a 


iiMtnoftamioiaBai 


LIBRARY    OF   THE 


University  of  California. 


C 1 R  C  UL  A  TIXG     B  R  A  XC  H . 


A 

Return  in  **w«-w8ek/;  or  a  week  Ijefoie 


FATE  OF  REPUBLICS. 


/       T    "7 


1 


'  There  is  the  moral  of  all  human  tales, 
'Tis  but  the  same  rehearsal  of  the  past. 

First  freedom,  and  then  glory ;  when  that  fails. 
Wealth,  vice,  corruption,  —  barbarism  at  last ; 
And  History,  with  all  her  volumes  vast. 

Hath  but  one  page." 


^^^ 


VTSV: 


IT  7 


^i'-'OR^ 


BOSTON: 

ESTES    AND    LAURIAT. 

i88o. 


COPYRIGHT, 

1880, 
By  Estes  «&  Lauriat. 


7 


Electrotyped  at  the  Boston  Stereotype  Foundry, 
No.  4  Pearl  Street. 


TO 


GENERAL    ULYSSES  S.  GRANT, 


Digitizedby  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/fateofrepublicsOOtownrich 


Contents. 


PAGE 

Introductory 1 

PART    I. 

EXTINCT  REPUBLICS;    ANCIENT  DATE. 

CHAPTER 

I.      ISRAELITISH   COMMONWEALTH          5 

II.    Grecian  Republics 12 

III.  Carthage 28 

IV.  Rome 36 


PART    II. 

EXTINCT  REPUBLICS ;    MEDIEVAL  AND  MODERN 
DATE. 

;haptf,r 

I.  Lombard  Communes  ;  Genoa  ;  Venice  ;  Amalfi  ; 

Free  Cities  of  Germany;  Iceland    ...    61 

II.  Republic  of  the  United  Provinces;    French 

Republic  of  1792-1804 81 


VI  CONTENTS. 

PART    III. 

EXISTING  REPUBLICS;    EXCLUSIVE  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    European  Republics. 

San    Marino  ;    Andorra  ;     Switzerland  ; 
France 97 

II.    African  Republics. 

Liberia  ;     Orange    River    Free     State  j 
Transvaal  Republic 114 

III.  American  Republics. 

I.  Mexico. 

II.  Central  America:  GuatemaLa;  Hondu- 
ras; San  Salvador;  Nicaragua;  Costa  Rica,  118 

IV.  American  Republics  {Continued). 

I.  South  America:  Venezuela;  Colombia; 
Ecuador;  Peru;  Bolivia;  Paraguay;  Argen- 
tine Republic;    Uruguay;   Chili. 

II.  Hayti  and  San  Domingo 131 

PART    IV. 

UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 

CHAPTER 

I.  National  Governjient 159 

II.   Supposed  Securities 1G3 

III.  Existing  Perils.    Popery 176 

IV.  "  "  Social  Evils 214 

V.  "  "  Political  Evils     .     .     .     .230 

NOTES 255 


INTRODUCTOR'Y. 

It  is  usual  to  classify  governments  under  three  types  — 
government  by  one  person,  government  by  a  few  privileged 
persons,  and  government  by  the  people;  or,  in  a  word, 
governments  are  either  Monarchic,  Aristocratic,  or  Demo- 
cratic. The  extreme  poles  of  government  are,  there- 
fore, pure  despotisms  on  the  one  hand,  and  pure  democracies 
on  the  other.  Between  these  two  extremes  are  found  most 
of  the  extinct  and  existing  forms  of  government. 

In  histoi-y,  nearly  all  governments,  not  monarchical,  are 
termed  Republics.  Sparta,  during  her  independence,  espe- 
cially while  under  the  rule  of  the  Magistrates  and  Senate ; 
Athens,  just  after  the  times  of  Solon ;  and  the  Italian  re- 
publics, notably  those  of  Venice  and  Genoa,  were  so  thor- 
oughly governed  by  the  aristocracy,  that  by  some  wi-iters 
they  have  been  excluded  from  the  rank  of  republics ;  still, 
in  this  treatise  they  are  regarded  as  republics. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  also  that  republics  are  of  two  types  — 
centralized  and  non-centralized.  When  the  general  gov- 
ernment represents  the  sovereignty  of  the  people,  indepen- 
dent of  local  governments,  and  when  the  power  of  the 
whole  nation -r  as  in  case  of  France  and  the  republics  of  ■ 
South  America  —  is  exercised  by  a  general  government, 

1 


2  INTRODUCTORY. 

we  have  what  is  teraied  a  centralized  republic.  But  when 
the  general  government — as,  for  instance,  that  of  the  Greek 
republics,  the  free  cities  of  Germany,  and  the  United  States 
—  is  restricted  constitutionally  so  as  not  to  control  or  inter- 
fere in  certain  respects  with  the  local  governments  of  the 
several  states,  and  when  the  voice  of  the  different  states  is 
necessary  in  order  to  accomplish  certain  measures  in  behalf 
of  the  general  government  —  then  the  republic  is  termed 
non-centralized. 


I. 

EXTINCT    REPUBLICS;     ANCIENT    DATE. 

3 


Fate  of  Republics. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE  ISRAELITISH  COMMONWEALTH. 

The  Israelitish  Commonwealth,  one  of  the  earliest  repub- 
lics of  which  history  gives  account,  appears  to  have  sj^rung 
up,  under  providential  circumstances,  from  the  instinctive 
Israelitish  love  of  political  and  religious  independence.  This 
constitutional  love  of  liberty  in  the  Jewish  nation  can  be 
traced  a  long  way  back,  even  to  the  times  of  Abraham, 
who  left  his  home  in  Babylonia  (1921  b.  c),  and  sought  in 
the  then  new  and  western  world  —  the  wilds  of  Palestine  — 
a  home  where  he  could  enjoy  the  rights  of  political  and 
religious  freedom.  The  patriarchal,  or  family  govern- 
ment, continued  until  the  settlement  of  the  Israelites  in 
Egj'pt.  The  leading  Israelitish  minds  never  submitted 
gi'acefully  to  their  Egyptian  serfdom,  and  under  Moses  the 
people  revolted  and  escaped  from  bondage.  The  period 
that  followed,  including  nearly  four  hundred  years  (1491- 
1095  B.  c),  and  extending  to  the  appointment  of  Saul  as 
king,  witnessed  what  is  termed  the  Israelitish  Common- 
wealth, or  Republic.  During  the  administration  of  Moses 
and  Joshua  the  government  was  of  the  consolidated  and 

5 


6  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

centralized  type.'*  Except  in  the  priesthood,  there  was 
no  office-holding  class  having  privileged  rights.  Political 
preferment  depended  upon  neither  mature  age,  wealth, 
aristocratic  birth,  nor  sex.  The  people,  by  popular  vote 
in  what  was  termed  the  "  congi-egation  of  Israel,"  strictly, 
the  popular  assembly,  adopted  the  form  of  government  in- 
stituted, ratified  laws,  imposed  taxes,  and  chose  their  lead- 
ers and  judges.  In  this  Hebrew  commonwealth  we  have, 
therefore,  the  earliest  historic  record  of  choosing  rulers  by 
elective  franchise.  The  government  was  beneficent  and 
wise.  Oppression  was  rigorously  prohibited.  The  security 
of  person  and  property  was  sought  by  what  have  been 
termed  Draconic  measures,  though  they  were  no  more 
severe  than  the  laws  of  England  during  the  eighteenth 
century.  "  A  spirit  of  strict  justice,  combined  with  charity 
and  humanity,"  extending  to  servants,  strangers,  and  even 
to  the  lower  animals,  breathed  throughout  the  Mosaic 
code. 2  Schools  similar  to  the  common,  district,  or  parochial 
schools  of  modern  times  were  found,  according  to  the  ablest 
Jewish  commentators,  in  eveiy  Israelitish  community. 
The  Levites  and  the  priests  taught  the  child  first  to  read, 
then  to  repeat  the  sacred  precepts  of  their  religion. 

Owing  to  the  extraordinary  fertility  of  the  soil  and  the 
mildness  of  the  climate,  the  Jewish  commonwealth  was 
independent  of  foreign  commerce.  The  state  was  commu- 
nistic, so  far  that  to  each  family  was  assigned  twenty-one 
and  a  half  acres  of  land,  the  common  law  of  the  republic 
making  this  land  inalienable ;  if  mortgaged  or  sold,  this 
assigned  estate  reverted,  without  repurchase,  upon  the  year 

*  The  marks  ^,  ^,  ^,  &c.,  refer  the  reader  to  Supplemental  Notes, 
page  255. 


I.]  THE  ISRAELITISH  COMMONWEALTH.  7 

of  jubilee,  to  the  original  proi^rietor.  It  was  this  remark- 
able Agrarian  law  which  secured  political  equality  and 
prevented  the  vast  accumulations  of  land  estate  in  the 
hands  of  the  few,  that  has  led  to  so  much  distress  in  the 
republics  of  later  date.  Here  was  an  illustration  of  Machi- 
avelli's  great  political  maxim,  "the  constant  renovation  of 
the  state  according  to  the  first  principles  of  its  consti- 
tution." 

The  Israelitish  law  had  also  provided  against  the  evils 
of  excessive  rates  of  interest:  usuiy  in  any  form  was 
strictly  forbidden. 3  The  state  was  thus  preserved  from 
those  fierce  struggles  between  creditors  and  debtors 
which  have  contributed  to  the  downfall  of  the  most  re- 
nowned republics  of  history.  The  only  public  resource 
of  the  commonwealth  was  that  of  the  sacred  treasury,  and 
the  chief  public  expenditure  was  for  religious  worship. 

The  military  spirit  was  fostered;  all  Israel  capable  of 
bearing  arms  constituted  the  standing  army.^  At  the  out- 
set, this  republic  consisted,  for  the  most  part,  of  an  inde- 
pendent yeomanry,  who  herded  their  flocks  in  the  vales 
and  on  the  hill-sides,  and  cultivated  their  hereditary  fanns, 
the  boundaries  of  which  were  not  allowed  to  be  moved. 

The  republic  during  these  early  periods,  as  would  be 
expected,  was  one  of  the  most  prosperous  countries  of 
antiquity.  Each  man,  in  the  beautiful  language  of  the 
times,  "dwelt  under  his  own  vine  and  fig-tree."  We 
cannot  well  dissent  from  the  opinion  of  one  who  has  care- 
fully studied  this  period  of  Israelitish  history,  that  "the 
descendants  of  Abraham  had  reached  a  higher  state  of 
virtue  and  happiness,  under  their  republic,  than  any 
other    nation    of   that    period."      Had   the    consolidation 


8  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

which  first  characterized  the  government,  and  those  early- 
political,  social,  and  religious  customs  and  virtues  contin- 
ued, there  was  certainly  no  nationality  in  the  Orient  which 
could  fjivorably  compare *with  this  early  Hebrew  republic. 
But  these  domestic  virtues  and  this  republican  adminis- 
tration did  not  continue.  Unfortunately,  on  the  death  of 
Joshua  there  was  no  successor  either  chosen  or  appointed 
over  the  united  tribes  or  states  of  Israel.  Love  for  the 
union,  among  the  different  tribes,  soon  gave  place  to  indi- 
vidual state  love  and  rights ;  and  the  united  republic  Sub- 
mitted to  the  peril  of  a  peaceable  secession  of  the  different 
states,  forming  several  independent  confederacies.  During 
these  periods  of  disintegi-ation  arose  the  warlike  leaders 
of  Israel,  called  the  Judges,  the  Shofetim,  who  closely  re- 
semble the  Suffetes,  or  rulers  of  the  Carthaginian  republic 
of  later  date.  They  were  essentially  military  dictators, 
aj^pointed  during  gi-eat  emergencies  to  command  the  na- 
tional forces.  Their  selection  was  confined  to  no  particular 
state  of  the  confederacy ;  they  were  chosen  on  account  of 
personal  valor  and  for  the  purpose  of  defending  the  com- 
mon cause.  The  government,  when  threatened  by  inva- 
sion, would  for  a  time  seem  quite  thoroughly  consolidated. 
But  a  republic  once  infected  with  the  theory  of  state  or 
tribal  rights  is  with  difficulty,  if  at  all,  entirely  cured.  A 
political  disturbance,  a  national  misfortune,  some  real 
or  imaginary  local  injustice,  is  sure  to  create  fresh  de- 
mands for  disunion.  Thus  it  was  with  Israel.  Shortly 
after  a  common  danger  passed,  there  was  found  some 
pretext,  and  one  state  after  another  set  up  its  plea  of 
independency  and  withdrew  from  the  federal  compact  and 
leadership. 


I.]  THE  ISRAELITISH  COMMONWEALTH.  9 

Thus  matters  continued  for  three  hundred  and  fifty  years. 
The  student  of  history  will  always  have  occasion  to  wonder 
that  the  Jewish  state,  having  such  diverse  sectional  and 
tribal  interests,  could  so  long  sui*vive.  If  supernatural  in- 
terposition ever  can  be  predicated  of  human  affairs,  it  must 
be  that  the  Hebrew  republic  was  divinely  preserved  during 
these  periods  of  civil  disunion.  But  at  length  Providence 
seemed  no  longer  to  interfere.  A  division  of  interests 
weakened  the  Israelites  and  made  them  an  easy  prey  to 
surrounding  tribes.  They  were  so  much  engaged  in  war, 
especially  in  repelling  invasions,  that  their  general  system 
of  education  was  neglected.  The  religion  of  their  fathers, 
amid  the  darkness  of  increasing  ignorance,  gave  place  to 
idolatry.  Rulers  became  faithless  to  their  trusts,  were  self- 
seeking  and  often  oppressive.  Under  the  pious  administra- 
tion of  Samuel,  ending  1095  B.C.,  these  fatal  tendencies 
were  for  a  time  arrested.  The  people  repented  of  their 
idolatry,  re-enacted  the  laws  of  Moses,  and  nearly,  if  not 
entirely,  secured  a  restoration  of  the  federal  union;  there 
was  consequently  a  period  of  great  prosperity  in  the  Com- 
monwealth of  Israel. 

By  reason  of  the  infirmities  of  the  aged  Samuel,  his  sons, 
Joel  and  Abiah,  were  appointed  to  assist  in  the  administra- 
tion of  affairs.  They  were  at  first  odious,  simply  by  reason 
of  their  excessive  extortions.  But  at  length  they  defied 
the  laws  of  the  commonwealth ;  they  made  a  mockery  of 
justice,  and  substituted  their  own  arbitrary  will  for  the  law 
of  the  land.  Subordinates  in  oflSce  caught  the  spirit  of 
their  superiors,  and  became  exacting  and  tyrannical.  Amid 
sucli  scenes,  the  wronged  people  clamored  for  a  change  of 
government.     They  dared  to  welcome  absolutism,  hoping 


10  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

that  with  it  would  come  security  of  person  and  property. 
The  " congi'egation  of  Israel"  waited  upon  Samuel  and 
demanded  a  king.  That  noble  republican  patriot  protested ; 
he  vividly  portrayed  the  perils,  the  exactions  and  oppres- 
sions which  would  inevitably  result  sooner  or  later  from  the 
despotisms  of  an  absolute  monarchy.  Plis  words  availed 
nothing.  The  people  had  suffered,  as  they  thought,  too 
much  from  misgovernment,  bad  rulers,  and  from  conflicts 
arising  out  of  the  disunion  of  states,  to  listen  to  the 
counsels  of  the  great  judge  and  prophet.  They  felt  that 
the  "  despotism  of  one  man  was  preferable  to  the  tyranny 
of  many."  A  change  they  would  have.  Instead  of  remov- 
ing corrupt  rulers,  as  was  within  their  power,  and  in- 
stead of  retaining  their  republican  form  of  government, 
as  they  might  have  done,  they  dared  the  risks*,  they  de- 
manded a  king. 

The  will  of  the  people  being  the  highest  law  of  the  land, 
there  was  no  course  for  Samuel  except  to  yield  to  the 
popular  verdict.  The  Israelites  had  thus  proved  themselves 
unfit  to  live  longer  under  a  beneficent  republic,  and  Prov- 
idence no  longer  interposed.  Only  a  moment's  reflection 
is  necessary  to  show  that  popular  ignorance  and  popular 
irreligion  lay  at  the  bottom  of  these  unfortunate  demands 
and  measures. 

From  some  cause,  Moses,  anticipating  the  end  of  the 
federal  government  of  Israel,  provided  what  has  never  been 
provided  in  any  other  republic,  namely,  regulations  for  the 
election  of  a  king  and  for  the  administration  of  the  affairs 
of  a  kingdom.  So  ample  were  the  legal  arrangements,  so 
ripe  were  the  people  for  the  change,  and,  fortunately,  so 
wise  was  the  course  of  Samuel,  that  the  revolution  was 


I.]  THE  ISRAELITISH  COMMONWEALTH.  H 

effected  without  bloodshed  or  tumult,  and  Saul  was  anointed 
king. 

Prosperity  attended  the  affairs  of  the  new  kingdom 
through  the  subsequent  reigns  of  David  and  Solomon. 
King  succeeded  king;  and,  as  is  often  the  case,  kings 
after  a  time  became  tyrants,  and  the  Israelites  awoke  to 
their  appalling  wretchedness,  cursed  with  the  evils  of 
absolute  despotism.  Under  such  a  gloomy  cloud,  the  first 
republic  of  the  world  fades  from  history. 


CHAPTER  II. 


GRECIAN    REPUBLICS. 


The  most  ancient  inhabitants  of  Greece,  as  is  generally 
believed,  were  the  Pelasgians.  History  shows  that  they 
were  not  barbarians,  but  tillers  of  the  soil  and  dwellers  in 
walled  towns.  Greece  in  the  Heroic  Age  was  divided 
into  several  states  or  tribes,  each  ruled  by  a  chief,  whose 
power  was  similar  to  that  exercised  by  the  Old  Testament 
patriarchs.  There  were  three  classes  of  citizens  —  nobles, 
common  freemen,  and  slaves.  Family  relations  were  ten- 
der, habits  were  simple,  general  intelligence  was  on  the 
increase,  the  stranger  was  given  hospitality,  and  the  sup- 
pliant was  afforded  protection. 

Soon  after  the  commencement  of  the  first  Olympiad,  the 
ancient  reverence  for  kings  in  nearly  all  the  tribes  gi'ad- 
ually  lost  its  hold  upon  the  mass  of  the  people,  and  in  an 
incredibly  brief  space  of  time  they  were  all  deposed.  It  is 
very  remarkable  that  most  of  these  revolutions  from  mon- 
archy to  republicanism  were  effected  without  bloodshed, 
and  with  but  slight  remonstrance  from  the  nobility. 

"Sometimes,  on  the  death  of  a  king,  his  son  was  ac- 
knowledged as  ruler  for  life,  or   for  a  certain  number  of 

12 


I.]  GEECIAX  REPUBLICS.  13 

years,  with  the  title  of  Archon ;  and  sometimes  the  royal 
race  was  set  aside  altogether,  and  one  of  the  nobles  was 
elected  to  supply  the  place  of  the  king,  with  the  title  of 
Prytanis,  or  president." 

Once  embarked  in  these  political  changes,  it  was  found 
difficult  to  arrest  still  further  encroachments  of  the  com- 
monalty upon  the  privileges  and  claims  of  the  ruling 
classes.  When  monarchy  gives  place  to  oligarchy,  the 
logical  and  historical  sequence  is  that  the  oligarchy  must 
give  place  to  democracy.  During  the  period  extending 
from  B.  c.  650  to  500,  nearly  every  city  in  Greece  had  be- 
come dissatisfied  with  the  ruling  few,  and  ambitious  cit- 
izens, called  Despots,  seized  the  reins  of  government.  The 
Sicyonian,  Corinthian,  and  Megarian  despots  were  among 
the  most  celebrated.  No  instance  is  known,  however,  where 
a  Grecian  "despot"  established  a  permanent  dynasty. 
During  these  civil  revolutions,  Sj^arta  alone,  after  throw- 
ing off  the  monarchical,  retained  an  oligarchical  form  of 
government.  Lj^curgus  could  Imve  easily  made  himself 
dictator  more  easily  than  had  most  of  the  despots  in 
other  states,  but  he  chose  the  wiser  course  of  enacting 
such  laws  as  would  place  Sparta  among  the  most  power- 
ful of  the  Greek  commonweal tlis.  Still,  had  the  Spartans 
been  less  a  nation  of  soldiers,  not  despising,  as  they  did, 
art  and  literature,  they  probably  would  liave  yielded  to  th(i 
spirit  of  the  age,  and  upon  the  ruins  of  an  oligarchy  have 
established  a  democracy. 

It  would  be  interesting,  did  our  limits  allow,  or  did  the 
object  of  this  treatise  require,  to  study  separately  the  his- 
tory of  Sparta,  and  of  each  of  the  other  ten  or  twelve 
commonwealths.     "VVe  must  group  them. 


14  'fAJB''6f  republics.  [part 

We  call  attention,  first,  to  the  fact  that  no  nationality  has 
had  more  inspiring,  beautiful,  or  defensible  territories  than 
the  Greeks.  The  poetic  beauty  and  romance  of  tlie 
mountains  of  Greece  have  never  failed  to  call  forth  the 
admiration  of  visitors.  That  country  of  unsurpassed  nat- 
ural scenery,  surrounded  on  every  hand,  excepting  upon 
the  northern  frontier,  by  the  Mediterranean,  whose  bays 
and  gulfs  indented  the  entire  coast,  giving  to  every  state, 
excepting  Arcadia,  a  seaport,  was  the  best  adapted  possible 
for  the  development  of  a  race  of  bold  piountaineers  and 
enterprising  mariners,  classes  always  regarded  as  among 
the  most  valuable  in  the  defence  of  national  rights  and 
liberties. 

Athens,  the  queen  city  of  Greece,  wa^ delightfully  situ- 
ated.^  No  doubt  her  location  contributed  much  towards 
her  acknowledged  superiority  among  all  the  other  Grecian 
states. 

In  the  age  of  Thucydides,  Athens  had  risen  to  such  a 
degree  of  political  importance  that  she  exercised  a  sort 
of  sovereignty  in  Greece,  and  became  also  the  centre  of 
literary  and  scientific  culture.  The  pure  democratic  polity 
of  the  republic  gave  to  popular  eloquence  the  greatest 
freedom,  and  thus  the  language  of  Athens  reached  a  com- 
pleteness, comprehensiveness,  and  influence  to  which  no 
otlier  dialect  of  Greece  attained.  Every  freeman  was 
trained  in  logic,  rhetoric,  and  oratoiy,  so  as  to  be  able, 
before  Athenian  jurors,  and  without  the  aid  of  a  consul, 
to  defend  himself.  From  all  the  other  states,  Greeks 
repaired  to  Athens  for  their  education.  The  consequence 
was  that  the  Attic  dialect  became  the  court  language, 
the  general  language  of  books,  and,  from  the  date  of  the 


THE  ISRAELITISH 


Macedonian  conquest,  it  was  adopted  by  the  prose  writers 
of  all  the  Grecian  tribes  and  countries. 

As  would  be  expected,  the  Athenian  state  for  centuries 
took  precedence  in  matters  of  taste  and  culture.  There 
is  found  to  have  been  an  almost  uninterrupted  progi'ess 
in  literature  and  art,  indeed,  in  all  forms  of  mental  cul- 
ture and  development,  from  the  earliest  dawn  of  the  state 
until  the  downfall  of  her  political  independence.  She  is 
acknowledged  to  have  been  the  mother  of  refinement,  tlu 
nurse  of  literature,  the  patron  of  art,  and  the  founder 
of  European  civilization. 

In  one  century,  from  530  to  430  B.  c,  Attica  produced 
the  following  illustrious  persons :  Themistocles,  Miltiades, 
Aristides,  Cimon,  Pericles,  Xanthippus,  Thucydides,  Soc- 
rates, Xenophon,  Plato,  ^schylus,  Sophocles,  Euripides, 
Aristophanes,  and  Phidias.  It  is  generally  conceded  that 
in  two  thousand  years  all  Europe  has  not  seen  their 
equals. 

In  a  word,  here  is  a  republic  whose  career  is  magnificent, 
indeed,  almost  dazzling.  And  yet  Greece,  which  should 
have  had  her  political  power  centralized  in  Attica ;  Greece, 
so  beautiful,  so  strong,  so  enterprising,  which  had  com- 
bined strength  enough  to  resist  any  invasion  the  world 
could  have  attempted;  that  country,  at  one  time  having 
the  most  flourishing  republican  institutions  known  to  his- 
tory, entirely  lost  her  independence.  She  first  yielded  to  her 
Macedonian  masters,  then  to  Persia,  then  to  Rome,  then  tc 
the  Goths  and  Vandals,  then  to  the  Popes,  then  to  the  Mos^ 
lems,  under  whose  rule  the  common  people  were  condemned 
to  seemingly  hopeless  slavery  and  degi-adation.  And  to* 
day  Greece  is   nothing   but  a  petty  and  poverty-stricken 


16  FATE   OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

kingdom  whose  assumptions  of  royalty  are  well-nigh  ridic- 
ulous. 6 

Comparing  Greece  as  she  was  centuries  ago  with  what 
she  is  to-day,  a  pertinent  question  confronts  us  —  "What  are 
the  causes  which  have  wrought  these  changes  ?  Why  did 
not  Greece  resist  invasions?  Why  did  she  not  suppress 
insurrections  ?  Why  did  slie  not  punish  traitors  ?  and,  Why 
did  she  not  maintain  her  liberties? 

In  answering  these  questions,  we  group  into  two  classes 
the  causes  that  led  to  her  downfall.  First,  the  unre- 
strained tendencies  of  human  nature.  Second,  certain 
fundamental  defects  in  the  constitution  of  the  Grecian 
states.  Under  the  first  class  we  note  the  blight  that  is 
apt  to  come  upon  a  state  in  consequence  of  the  rapid  in- 
crease of  wealth.  Even  Sparta  felt  this  evil  almost  as 
much  as  did  Attica  and  the  other  states.  The  treasures 
of  conquered  cities,  subsidies  gi'anted  by  Persia  to  aid  in 
the  overthrow  of  Athenian  supremacy,  and  bribes  paid  the 
influential  citizens  of  Sparta,  created  a  widespread  passion 
for  money  and  for  indulgence  in  all  sorts  of  extravagance. 
The  rich  sought  more  and  more  for  the  luxuries  of  the 
Orient,  and  by  their  mode  of  living,  more  and  more  sep- 
arated themselves  from  the  poor.  The  poor  sought  by 
every  means  at  command  to  gain  such  wealth  as  would 
relieve  them  from  social  degradation  and  ostracism.  In 
the  hearts  of  nearly  all  a  feverish  cupidity  took  the  place 
of  noble  moral  purpose  and  of  patriotism,  and  the  race 
of  Spartan  heroes  at  length  disappeared.^ 

In  other  of  the  Grecian  states  the  story  is  substantially 
the  same.  Wealth,  oftener  gained  dishonestly  than  other- 
wise,  led  its  possessors   to   perpetrate  gross  wrongs  upon 


I.]  GRECIAN  REPUBLICS.  17 

the  less  successful.  Advantage  was  freely  taken  of  the 
necessities  of  the  poor.  Interest  on  loans  rose  in  the  dif- 
ferent states  as  high  as  thirty-six  per  cent.  The  rich  in 
consequence  became  richer  and  the  poor  poorer ;  the  social 
gulf  widened  and  deepened  in  every  respect  between  these 
two  classes.  It  is,  therefore,  no  matter  of  wonder  that 
the  poor  became  discontented  and  looked  upon  the  wealth 
and  2>olitical  power  of  those  who  stood  above  them  with 
sullen  anger.  Measures,  however  unjust,  that  promised  a 
redistribution  of  property  were  hailed  and  demanded  by 
the  democratic  rabble.  '  Any  demagogue  who  sided  with 
these  irritable  masses,  and  who  promised  legislation  that 
would  relieve  their  distresses,  was  the  hero  of  the  hour, 
and  by  the  suffrages  of  the  people  was  at  length  elevated 
to  the  most  responsible  positions. 8  Men  basely  notorious, 
cruel,  and  bloodthirsty  —  such  as  Cleon,  of  Athens,  Cyp- 
selus  and  Periander,  of  Corinth,  and  Thrasybulus,  of  INIile- 
tus  —  could  sway  and  infuriate  at  will  the  popular  heart. 
Robbery,  more  than  once,  in  more  than  one  way  and  in 
more  than  one  state,  was  legalized.  The  rich  were  some- 
times forced  by  popular  vote  to  provide  oxen  and  goats 
for  public  sacrifices ;  the  larger  portion  of  the  flesh  would, 
however,  be  distributed  for  food  to  the  mob. 

At  other  times,  after  some  so-termed  liberal  party  victoiy 
had  been  gained,  the  rabble  would  enter  the  houses  of  the 
rich  and  force  them  to  provide  costly  banquets ;  they  con- 
fiscated the  property  of  the  nobles  and  di-ove  them  into 
exile;  they  repudiated  all  debts,  and  forced  their  aristo- 
cratic creditors  to  refund  any  interest  that  had  been  paid. 
It  resulted  that  those  who  possessed  property,  exasperated 
l^y  such  injustice,  would  often  side  with  a  dictator  or 
2 


18  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

tyrant,  who  was  thought  able  to  relieve  from  the  worst 
kind  of  tyranny  and  despotism  —  that  of  a  mob.  Nor  is  it  a 
matter  of  surprise,  when  the  homes  and  the  property  of  the 
aristocracy  and  the  rich  are  no  longer  safe,  that  those  im- 
perilled lose  their  love  for  the  government,  and  are  willing, 
nay,  anxious,  to  surrender  it  to  any  one  who  can  establish 
order.  Amid  such  changes,  the  mob  usually,  in  the  end, 
gains  no  advantage  and  inevitably  sinks  to  the  bottom. 

The  misfortunes  of  Greece  just  before  her  downfall  were 
not  solely  the  outgrowth  of  conflicts  between  wealth  and 
poverty.  Ambitious  aspirants  for  office  also  were  an  un- 
mitigated curse  throughout  the  Grecian  states.  As  would 
be  expected,  the  jealousies  and  animosities  springing  up 
between  leading  men  became  such  that  the  ruin  of  the 
country  would  be  allowed  sooner  than  the  success  of  a 
rival.  Patriotism,  even  in  case  of  men  having  many  no- 
ble qualities,  seemed  at  length  to  give  place  entirely  to 
self-seeking.  The  success  of  Miltiades  at  Marathon  is 
said  to  have  robbed  Themistocles  of  his  sleep.  Themis- 
tocles  and  Aristides  had  such  mutual  jealousies  that  each 
would  have  preferred  national  defeat  rather  than  victory 
at  the  hands  of  his  rival. 9 
^  Political  factions,  based  upon  various,  and  often  upon 
unimportant  issues,  likewise  became  a  very  turbulent  ele- 
ment in  the  different  Grecian  states.  The  condition  of 
Sparta  after  Alexander  had  taken  command  of  the  confed- 
erate Greeks  was  especially  gloomy.  Agis  IV.,  wliile  en- 
deavoring to  reforai  the  state,  was  put  to  death  by  the 
Ephors.  Cleomenes  came  into  power,  and  in  turn  put  to 
death  the  Ephors;  nay,  more,  he  crushed  the  oligarchy, 
extended  the  state  franchise,  and  redistributed  the  landed 


I.]  GRECIAN  REPUBLICS.  19 

property.  These  rude  democratic  measures  were  followed 
by  the  reign  of  tyi-ants  who  were  upheld  by  foreign  mer- 
cenaries, and  who  in  many  instances,  to  maintain  their 
position,  resorted  to  the  most  merciless  measures.'" 

The  constitution  of  the  other  Grecian  states  had  likewise 
grown  more  and  more  democratic  and  turbulent,  until  at 
length  the  lowest  persons  and  the  lewdest  in  all  public 
matters  had  equal  voice  and  rights  with  the  noblest  citizens. 
This  unrestricted  franchise  was  followed,  as  was  natural, 
by  laxity  in  the  selection  of  proper  persons  to  fill  i^ublic 
positions ;  then,  of  course,  came  an  end  of  political  virtue 
and  justice.  A  score  of  demagogues  were  found  in  strife 
for  positions  which  only  one  could  occupy.  The  party  of 
the  shore,  and  the  party  of  the  plain,  and  the  party  of  the 
mountain,  the  war  parties,  and  the  peace  parties,  would 
each  in  turn  be  successful,  aggressive,  and  tyrannical. 

Amid  these  political  contentions  the  worst  passions  of 
the  masses  were  developed,  and  the  worst  classes  rose 
for  a  time  into  a  commanding  and  ten'ible  importance. 
First  one  party,  then  another,  would  promise  freedom  and 
political  rights  to  slaves  and  to  foreigners  who  were  ut- 
terly unqualified  for  the  rights  and  privileges  of  franchise. 
Prisons  were  thrown  open  and  the  most  desperate  convicts 
set  at  large ;  nay,  were  supplied  with  arms  and  with  votes 
in  order  to  carry  or  enforce  some  political  measure.  At 
length  leaders  and  parties  defiantly  sought  victoiy,  and 
gained  it  by  resort  to  misrepresentations,  frauds,  and  vio- 
lence. There  were  times  in  Grecian  history  when  no  other 
methods  were  tried,  or  deemed  of  any  use. 

Often  the  successful  party,  in  order  to  retain  power  and 
remove  opposition,  wreaked  fearful  vengeance  upon  the 


20  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

defeated.  Whenever  the  interests  of  the  dominant  party 
seemed  to  require  the  arrest  of  some  prominent  leader  of 
the  opposition,  there  was  needed  only  the  testimony  of  a 
hireling  wretch  in  order  to  secure  execution.  Sometimes 
these  death  sentences  were  executed  publicly,  so  as  to  ter- 
rify those  who  might  sympathize  with  the  doomed;  at 
other  times  the  utmost  secrecy  was  observed.  When  the 
Spartan  Ephors  sought  the  extermination  of  the  Helots, 
after  their  public  emancipation,  the  arrests  and  executions 
were  made  by  secret  orders ;  one  after  another  disappearing, 
no  one  pretending  to  know  how  or  why.  It  was  the  same 
in  Athens.  Citizens  were  continually  falling  during  great 
political  controversies.  "Yet,"  says  the  historian,  "no 
man  could  tell  whose  hand  struck  the  blow  nor  whose 
turn  might  come  next." 

The  history  of  the  "  Four  Hundred,"  and  that  of  "  The 
Thirty,"  disclose  the  same  fearful  and  bloody  condition  of 
affairs.  During  the  domination  of  each  of  these  bodies 
there  was  no  show  of  justice,  no  trial,  often  no  testimony, 
simply  arbitrary  butchery. 

There  was  a  statute  regulation  in  early  times  that  any 
citizen  of  Athens  who  neglected  the  national  assembly 
would  be  subjected  to  a  fine.  But  these  assemblies,  once 
orderly,  became  so  tumultuous  and  dangerous  that  re- 
spectable citizens  shunned  them.  Their  presence,  while 
in  a  helpless  minority,  would  have  secured  no  benefit 
to  the  state,  and  would  have  imperilled  their  own  safety. 
The  turbulent  democracy,  after  the  death  of  Pericles, 
would  not  listen  to  reason.  The  mob  became  despotic, 
tyrannical,  and  easily  inflamed  by  ambitious  demagogues 
against   men    of    opulence,   eminence,  and    respectability 


[I.  GRECIAN  REPUBLICS.  21 

whenever  appearing  in  public  or  attempting  any  patriotic 
service." 

As  would  be  exj^ected,  the  ancient  order  of  Solon,  that 
there  should  be  no  evil  speaking  in  the  state,  was  disre- 
garded, and  the  atmosphere  was  filled  with  abusive  lan- 
guage. Those  who  had  rendered  the  most  distinguished 
sei-i^ices  did  not  escape.  Nor  is  it  surprising  that  such 
abuse  often  resulted  in  disheartening  and  alienating  even 
devout  patriots,  making  of  them  national  foes.  The  slight- 
est defects  oi-  mistakes  Avere  exaggerated  and  made  a 
gi'ound  for  slander,  ostracism,  or  death.  Patriotic  and 
important  services  were  overlooked  or  forgotten.  Indeed, 
the  men  who  had  done  most  for  the  state  often  fared  the 
worst. 

Miltiades,  the  hero  of  Marathon,  whose  honors  aroused 
the  animosity  of  those  opposed  to  him,  for  a  single  mis- 
take was  tried,  condemned,  and  thrust  into  prison,  where 
he  died. 

Themistocles,  one  of  Athens'  most  brilliant  soldiers  and 
statesmen,  who  had  spent  the  better  years  of  his  life  in 
fortifying  and  beautifying  the  city,  through  persecution 
turned  traitor.  No  doubt  he  had  made  some  mistake, 
for  who  has  not?  He  may  have  been  unduly  exasperated 
by  his  opponents ;  still  no  one  doubts  that  he  had  devoutly 
loved  Athens  and  Greece.  But,  by  reason  of  political 
oppositions,  he  was  compelled  to  go  into  banishment, 
wandering  as  a  fugitive  from  country  to  country.  Is  it  a 
matter  of  wonder,  therefore,  when  at  length  he  firmly 
believed  his  ungrateful  country  was  inevitably  doomed, 
that  he  should  offer  to  betray  her  into  the  hands  of  the 
Persians  ? 


22  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

Under  the  misrepresentations  of  popular  demagogues, 
such  as  Eucrates,  the  roiDe-maker,  Lj'sicles,  the  sheep- 
dealer,  Hyperbolus,  the  lamp-maker,  and  Clion,  the  cruel 
and  cowardly  tanner,  Pericles,  a  patriot  of  unquestioned 
and  untarnished  purity,  whom  Cicero  regarded  as  the  first 
example  in  the  world's  history  of  a  perfect  orator,  who 
had  contributed  so  largely  to  Athenian  greatness,  was 
obliged  to  employ  all  his  masterly  powers  of  mind  and  el- 
oquence to  stem  the  torrent  of  public  indignation  aroused 
against  him  by  these  brutal  democrats.  Into  such  condi- 
tion had  the  republic  degenerated.  If  the  tide  continued 
to  set  in  that  direction,  the  ruin  of  the  state  was  only  a 
question  of  time. 

The  second  class  of  causes  which  led  to  the  downfall 
of  Grecian  independence,  was  a  defect  in  the  national 
constitution.  Greece,  including  the  different  states,  was  a 
small  country,  its  greatest  length  not  more  than  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  English  miles,  its  greatest  breadth  only  one 
hundred,  and  eighty.  Its  safety  against  foreign  invasion 
depended,  therefore,  upon  a  form  of  governmfent  such  as 
could  unite  all  the  states  under  one  federal  compact.  There 
seems  to  be  no  valid  reason  why  there  should  not  have  been 
such  a  union.  These  states  had  many  ties  to  bind  them 
together,  such  as  community  of  blood  and  language,  man- 
ners and  character,  together  with  religious  rites  and  fes- 
tivals. They  had,  likewise,  national  councils  and  leagues. 
But  the  Amphictyonic,  the  most  noted,  though  approaching 
a  Greek  national  congress,  and  such  leagues  as  the  Boeo- 
tian, iEolian,  and  Delian,  did  not  in  the  least  inter- 
fere with  the  extremest  views  of  independent  state  rights. 
There  was  nothing  strong  enough  in  these  assemblies  to 


I.]  GKECIAN  REPUBLICS.  23 

combine  the  eflforts  of  the  Greek  states  permanently 
against  the  Persian  monarchs,  the  jNIacedonian  kings,  or 
against  the  Roman  legions.  The  patriotism  of  the  Greek 
was  confined  rather  to  his  own  section,  rarely  kindling 
into  love  for  the  weal  of  the  whole  country.  One  state 
sometimes  became  prominent  enough  to  exercise  authority 
over  neighboring  states,  but  no  lasting  bond  of  union  was 
formed  or,  apparently,  desired. 

Hence  the  temporaiy  dominion  of  Thebes  over  the  cities 
of  Bceotia,  and  of  Athens  over  her  subject  allies,  was  al- 
ways submitted  to  with  reluctance,  and  was  thrown  off 
upon  the  first  opportunity.  So  radical  was  the  political 
disunion  among  Greek  cities,  that  the  citizen  of  one,  if  he 
visited  another,  was  looked  upon  as  an  alien.  There  was 
social  ostracism  whenever  a  northern  Greek  visited  the 
south,  or  when  an  eastern  Greek  visited  the  west.  Easily, 
therefore,  could  the  Greek  cities  be  led  to  take  up  arms 
against  one  another,  almost  as  easily  as  against  a  foreign 
foe. 

There  is,  therefore,  no  gi'ound  for  doubt  that  one  of  the 
fundamental  defects  in  the  Grecian  commonwealths  was 
this  want  of  a  centralized  form  of  government.  Greek 
would  not  unite  with  Greek.  They  would  not  recognize  a 
national  supremacy.  They  professed  primal  loyalty  to  the 
individual  state.  Each  city  of  the  national  council  or 
league  sought  those  measures  only  which  would  contribute 
most  to  its  individual  interests,  without  regard  to  the  in- 
terests of  other  cities  or  those  of  the  entire  nationality. 
It  was  a  disunion  of  states,  and  a  consequent  conflict  of 
political  interests  and  jealousies,  a  blundering  states'-rights 
policy,  which  at  length  contributed  so  largely  to  Grecian 


24  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [paeT 

weakness  as  to  render  her  an  easy  prey  to  any  foe 
that  might  assail.  Sparta,  at  the  south,  "the  citadel  of 
oligarchy,"  and  Athens,  at  the  north  and  east,  "  the  cham- 
pion of  democratic  government,"  were  especially  antago- 
nistic to  each  other.  Sparta  sought  to  force  an  oligarchy 
upon  all  her  dependencies  and  allies ;  Athens  as  zealously 
sought  to  force  pure  democracies  upon  eveiy  state  subject 
to  her  empire.  In  this  conflict  of  political  ideas,  Sparta 
was  the  first  to  exercise  a  sort  of  empire  of  opinion  over 
the  other  states.  Then,  afl;er  the  Persian  wars,  Athens 
contested  the  palm  with  Sparta,  and,  through  the  confed- 
eracy of  Delos,  stood,  at  least  in  the  matter  of  material 
power,  at  the  head  of  the  Grecian  states.  Then  Sparta, 
jealous  of  Athenian  supremacy,  formed  a  league  with  cer- 
tain other  states  for  the  purpose  of  crushing  Athens.  After 
a  protracted  struggle,  Athens  fell  ^d  Sparta  again  ruled 
Greece,  maintaining  her  supremacy  for  about  thirty  years. 
In  the  mean  time,  Thebes  had  been  growing  in  power  and 
influence,  and,  through  the  ability  and  genius  of  Epami- 
nondas,  her  leading  general,  struck  Sparta  a  stunning 
blow,  and  wrested  from  her  the  Grecian  supremacy.  The 
ascendency  of  Thebes  was  followed  in  turn  by  that  of 
Athens.  But  Greece  was  then  so  far  exhausted  by  these 
internal  dissensions  and  conflicts  that  she  "condescended 
to  throw  herself  at  the  feet  of  Persia,"  making  of  that 
ancient  and  hereditaiy  foe  an  arbiter  of  her  quan*els. 
Macedonia  had  hitherto  been  looked  upon  by  the  Grecian 
states  as  a  despised  and  barbarous  territory,  unworthy  of 
rank  within  the  pale  of  Greek  civilization.  Philip,  acute, 
sagacious,  somewhat  cultivated,  commanding  and  eloquent, 


I.]  GRECIAN  REPUBLICS.  25 

assumed,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  the  government  of 
Macedonia. 

Athens,  struggling  to  maintain  independent  supremacy, 
and  involved  in  the  so-called  "  Social  War,"  and  in  various 
insurrections,  was  greatly  crippled,  losing  some  of  her 
ablest  commanders.  The  so-tei-med  "Sacred  War"  was 
at  the  same  time  raging  among  other  Grecian  states. 

Thus  wars,  jealousies  among  commanders,  repeated  insur- 
rections, and  disunion,  combined  in  laying  Greece  at  the 
feet  of  Philip.  He  first  made  a  conquest  of  Thessaly.  At 
this  point  Demosthenes  uttered  his  prophetic  warnings. 
He  tried  to  persuade  the  Athenians  to  form  a  union  with 
other  Grecian  states,  and  arm  against  a  common  foe. 
His  warnings  and  entreaties  produced  only  a  temporary 
eflfect  upon  the  heedless  and  wrangling  Athenians.  Per- 
sonal safety  for  the  day  or  hour  seemed  the  height  of 
Athenian  ambition  and  the  extent  of  Athenian  foresight. 
Most  unfortunate  was  it  also,  amid  these  scenes  and  dan- 
gers, that  military  service  was  no  longer  rendered  by 
patriotic  citizens,  but  by  hired  soldiery.  Young  men  had 
lost  all  martial  taste,  and  aliens  garrisoned  the  most  im- 
portant fortifications  of  Greece.  Public  revenues  were  frit- 
tered away  in  useless  and  needless  expeditions,  instead  of 
upon  fleets  and  armies.  Greece  at  length  was  left  well- 
nigh  destitute  of  all  physical  defences.  Nothing  standing 
in  the  way,  Macedon  became  the  leading  state,  and  in 
335  B.  c.  Alexander,  Philip's  son,  placed  the  Macedonian 
yoke  heavily  upon  the  neck  of  every  state  in  Greece. 
Later,  the  Macedonian  empire  becoming  involved  with 
otlier  powers,  the  Achasans  seized  upon  the  occasion,  and 
in  281  B.  c.  were  successful  in  freeing  themselves.     Subse- 


26  .  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

quently  the  patriotism  and  military  genius  of  Philopoemen 
nearly  secured  the  federal  union  of  all  the  Grecian  states ; 
but  it  was  too  late.  There  was  not  enough  of  patriotism, 
self-sacrifice,  and  nobility  left  among  the  Greeks  to  con- 
stitute a  united  nationality.  The  conquering  Romans 
crusTied  the  Macedonian  power,  and,  almost  without  re- 
sistance, swept  over  the  country  (b.  c.  146),  and  the  states 
constituting  the  last  Grecian  league,  the  Achasan,  were 
completely  vanquished. 

Athens  was  the  last  to  yield.  Almost  single-handed  she 
confronted  the  Roman  general  Sylla,  but  soon  found  that 
her  martial  defences  offered  but  the  feeblest  resistance 
against  the  successful  Romans.  The  Athenians  next  at- 
tempted to  check  Sylla  by  a  method  quite  characteristic: 
they  sent  their  orators  to  try  upon  the  resolute  general 
the  arts  of  eloquence. 

"Admitted  to  an  audience,  the  spokesman  began  to  re- 
mind the  general  of  their  past  glory,  and  was  proceeding 
to  touch  upon  Marathon,  when  the  surly  soldier  fiercely 
growled,  'I  was  sent  here  to  punish  rebels,  not  to  study 
history.'  And  he  did  punish  them.  He  broke  down  the 
wall  between  the  Persians  and  the  Sacred  Gate,  and 
poured  in  his  soldiers  to  punish  and  slay.  With  drawn 
swords  they  swept  through  the  streets.  The  gi'ound  ran 
with  blood,  which  poured  its  horrid  tide  into  the  ancient 
burying-place  of  the  Cerameicus.  Great  numbers  of  the 
citizens  were  slain;  their  property  was  plundered  by  the 
soldiers.  The  gi'oves  of  the  Academy  and  the  Lyceum 
were  cut  down;  and  columns  were  earned  away  from 
the  temple  of  Olympian  Zeus  to  ornament  the  city  of 
Rome." 


I.]  GRECIAN   REPUBLICS.  27 

The  epitaph  of  the  Grecian  republics  is  easily  written; 
The  luxury  and  extravagance  attendant  upon  wealth  and 
upon  other  forms  of  national  prosperity ;  general  laxity  in 
morality  and  religion;  jealousies  and  discontents  incident 
to  poverty;  conflicts  between  different  political  parties, 
each  willing  to  sacrifice  the  safety  of  the  state,  and  even 
the  state  itself,  sooner  than  allow  a  competitor  to  succeed ; 
abuse  allowed  to  be  heaped  upon  patriots  by  political 
opponents ;  favors  shown,  even  to  traitors  and  to  the  most 
dangerous  classes,  when  they  could  be  used  to  promote 
party  interests ;  a  disunion  of  states  constantly  embroiled 
with  one  another  through  conflicting  interests,  —  these  are 
the  reasons  why  that  country,  which  rose  to  such  emi- 
nence, and  which  might  have  remained  a  strong  republic 
to  this  day,  fell  into  degi-adation  and  ruin. 

And  while  this  Grecian  history  can  be  studied,  it  is 
singular  that  modern  republics  will  not  read  the  lessons 
and  take  warning! 

"  Out  of  the  clouds  the  snowflakes  are  poured,  and  fury  of  hail-stoiin ; 
After  the  lig^htning's  flash,  follows  the  thunderous  bolt. 
Tossed  by  the  Avinds  is  the  sea,  though  now  so  calmly  reposing, 
Hushed  in  a  motionless  rest,  emblem  of  justice  and  peace. 
So  is  the  state  by  its  great  men  ruined,  and  under  the  tyrant 
Sinks  the  people  unwise,  yielding  to  slavery's  thrall ; 
Nor  is  it  easy  to  humble  the  ruler  too  highly  exalted. 
After  the  hour  is  passed :  now  is  the  time  to  foresee."  >* 


CHAPTER   III. 


CARTHAGE. 


Passing  from  the  Greek  republics  to  the  Commonwealth  of 
Carthage,  we  are  in  an  historic  field  of  which  we  have  less 
data,  but  enough  to  show  that  some  of  the  national  perils 
found  in  the  Grecian  states  have  likewise  their  African 
counterpart.  The  records  of  early  Carthage  are  lost.  We 
may  safely  presume,  however,  that  the  founders  were  a 
race  of  freedom-loving  refugees,  who  had  suffered  religious 
and  political  persecutions  in  ancient  Tyre.  Their  de- 
scendants, no  doubt,  regarded  them  as  we  do  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers.  Five  hundred  years  before  Christ  this  Cartha- 
ginian republic  is  found  flourishing  under  rulers  and  gen- 
erals, not  possessed  of  hereditary  rights  and  privileges, 
but  subject  to  election  from  the  people.  While  the 
GreatXouncil,  the  chief  legislative  body,  during  the  closing 
days  of  the  republic,  appears  to  have  been  somewhat  aris- 
tocratic, and  the  Council  of  the  Elders  even  more  so, 
still  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  popular  voice,  when 
very  pronounced,  was  ever  opposed,  and  there  is  conclu- 
sive evidence  that  it  was  often  obeyed,  even  when  it  in- 
volved gi-eat  sacrifice  on  the  part  of  the  wealthy  and  aris- 
tocratic. 

28 


PART  I.J  CARTHAGE.  29 

The  government  for  centuries  appears  to  have  been 
conducted  with  skill,  securing  internal  ti-anquillity  and 
resulting  in  systematic  foreign  and  commercial  aggran- 
dizement. There  was  a  liberal  administration ;  there  were 
courts  of  justice,  banking  institutions,  public  libraries,  and 
also  schools  of  literature  and  art.^^  Her  republican  form 
of  government  was  not  split  up,  like  that  of  Greece,  into 
petty  and  jealous  states,  each  clamorous  for  its  rights  and 
independence,  but  was  centralized  like  that  of  Rome  and 
of  France. 

At  the  time  when  the  struggle  between  Rome  and  Car- 
thage commenced,  Rome  was  semi-barbarous,  Carthage 
highly  civilized ;  Rome  was  comparatively  poor,  grasping, 
and  eager  for  conquest,  Carthage  rich,  radiant  with  the 
arts  and  spoils  of  the  East ;  Rome  was  seeking  for  new 
territory  and  was  murdering  her  subjects,  Carthage  was 
making  discoveries  and  spreading  the  genius  of  com- 
merce; Rome  had  an  army,  Carthage  had  both  an  army 
and  a  navy ;  Rome  was  master  of  the  northwest,  Carthage 
of  the  northeast ;  Rome  was  a  nation  of  laborers  and  sol- 
diers, Carthage  a  nation  of  merchants  and  mariners ;  Rome 
was  seeking  to  rule  with  sword  and  spear,  Carthage  with 
her  gold  and  commerce.  Carthage  could  also  boast  of 
agricultural  resources  such  as  were  matched  by  but  few 
other  countries  of  antiquity.  The  soil  of  some  of  her 
island  dependencies  was  extremely  fertile,  while  that  of 
her  African  temtories  was  unsurpassed.  And,  what  is  no 
less  encouraging,  some  of  the  first  families  of  the  republic, 
during  the  early  days  of  her  ascendency,  took  pride  in 
being  classed  with  those  who  cultivated  the  arts  of  hus- 
bandly. 


30  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

The  city  of  Carthage,  the  capital  of  the  republic,  was 
situated  upon  the  shores  of  a  bay  of  the  Mediterranean, 
and  at  the  time  of  its  greatest  prosperity  outranked  all 
other  contemporary  cities  of  the  world,  both  as  a  maritime 
power  and  commercial  emporium.  The  city,  with  its 
streets  and  gardens,  covered  a  peninsula  twenty-three 
miles  in  circuit,  and  was  guarded  by  a  triple  wall  with 
interior  casemates,  which  housed  three  hundred  elephants, 
five  thousand  horses,  and  twenty  thousand  infantry.  In 
times  of  peace  thousands  of  vessels  could  anchor  safely  in 
the  bay  of  Tunis.  In  times  of  danger  they  could  shelter 
themselves  in  a  harbor  fourteen  hundred  feet  long  and 
eleven  hundred  feet  broad,  which  opened,  by  an  entrance 
seventy  feet  wide,  into  an  inner  harbor  for  ships  of  war, 
surrounded  by  quays,  with  docks  for  two  hundred  and 
twenty  galleys.  The  Carthaginian  loved  his  country  as  a 
whole,  while  Carthage,  the  metropolis,  was  almost  revered. 
It  was  to  the  republic  what  Paris  is  to  France. 

The  conquests  of  the  republic  in  the  days  of  her  ascend- 
ency were  of  immense  magnitude.  She  acquired  dominion 
over  the  Phoenician  colonies  of  North  Africa;  over  the 
Libyans  and  native  Numidians;  she  conquered  Sardinia, 
regarded  by  the  ancients  as  the  •'  gi-eatest  of  all  islands," 
also  Elba,  Malta,  and  the  western  half  of  Sicily.  Corsica, 
if  not  hers,  was  at  least  closed  by  her  to  all  other  states. 
She  was  mistress  of  the  ^gatian,  Liparean,  Balearic,  and 
Pityusian  Isles,  and  in  the  course  of  time  Spain,  which 
was  then  the  richest  country  of  the  known  world,  became 
part  of  the  Carthaginian  empire.  She  pushed  her  armies 
into  Italy,  often  sending  terror  into  the  Roman  heart, 
even  in  the  days  when  that  republic  was  considered  almost 


I.]  CARTHAGE.  31 

the  ruler  of  the  world.  In  the  battle  of  Cannag,  though 
the  Roman  forces  doubled  those  of  the  Carthaginians,  the 
Caxthaginians  were  overwhelmingly  victorious ;  history 
says  that  Hannibal,  after  that  battle,  sent  home  three 
bushels  of  gold  rings  taken  from  the  bodies  of  the  Roman 
dead.  Hannibal  remained  in  Italy  seventeen  years,  en- 
gaged in  many  encounters,  but  was  always  victorious.  In 
her  palmy  days,  Carthage  did  not  confine  her  spirit  of  en- 
terprise merely  to  war  and  conquest,  but  she  sent  expe- 
ditions to  the  coast  of  Guinea,  and  advanced  beyond  the 
mouths  of  the  Senegal  and  the  Gambia.  The  Carthagin- 
ians discovered  a  passage  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
two  thousand  years  before  its  subsequent  discovery  by 
Dias  and  Vasco  da  Gama.  Her  merchant  ships  passed 
beyond  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  and  through  the  British 
Channel.  Her  freight  caravans  crossed  the  deserts  to  the 
valleys  of  the  Nile  and  the  Niger. 

Carthage  was  also  well  off  in  her  list  of  distinguished 
public  men  and  resolute  patriots.  Hamilcar,  Asdrubal, 
Hannibal,  and  Xanthippus,  the  Greek,  are  names  of  Avhich 
any  people  may  well  be  proud.  It  is  not  uncommon  for 
those  who  have  carefully  studied  these  subjects  to  render 
the  verdict  that  Hannibal  was  a  greater  general  than 
Ctesar,  Marlborough,  or  even  Alexander,  and  that  his  sole 
equal  in  military  history  is  Napoleon.  But  the  father, 
Hamilcar,  was  unquestionably  gi-eater  than  Hannibal  the 
son.  The  father  and  son  are  unapproached  for  greatness 
by  any  two  Greeks  or  any  two  Romans  that  can  be 
named. 

Such  was  the  Carthaginian  commonwealth  in  the  days 
of  lier  gloiy. 


32  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

A  few  years  later,  her  African  ten-itories  had  become  a 
granary  for  the  Roman  people,  a  hunting-ground  for  their 
amphitheatres,  and  an  emporium  for  slaves.  To-day  Car- 
thage fills  but  a  narrow  and  obscure  space  upon  the  page 
of  history. 

Why  such  a  fearful  doom  for  such  a  fiir  republic?  must 
be  an  interesting  question  to  every  advocate  of  republi- 
can institutions.  In  solving  the  question,  the  discovery 
is  made  at  the  outset  that  Carthage  fell  not  through  a 
conflict  of  state  rights.  It  was  not  that  the  administra- 
tion of  the  government  was  not  beneficent.  But  her  ma- 
terial prosperity  paved  the  way,  through  unrestricted  in- 
dulgence, extravagance,  effeminacy,  and  loss  of  patriotism, 
to  her  overthrow  and  ritin. 

The  national  simplicity,  industiy,  and  frugality,  upon 
which  the  commonwealth  had  been  founded  and  which 
had  contributed  largely  in  building  it  up,  gave  way  with 
astonishing  rapidity  to  other  controlling  tendencies  and 
evils.  Changes  in  opinion  and  iiishion  aj^pear,  during  the 
space  of  a  very  few  years,  to  have  been  completely  rev- 
olutionized. To  be  an  agriculturist  was  no  longer  thought 
honorable,  hence  those  who  were  able  sought  to  enter 
the  more  glittering  fields  and  paths  of  traffic  and  com- 
merce. The  military  spirit  likewise  speedily  declined, 
and  the  hitherto  victorious  Carthaginian  armies  lost  their 
citizen  soldiers,  which  is  always  a  national  calamity. 
Her  riiilitary  forces  were  recruited  by  Libyan  conscripts, 
slaves,  and  foreign  mercenaries.  Wars  were  allowed  to 
impoverish  the  national  treasury,  resulting  in  what  is  not 
uncommon,  a  nation  struggling  with  bankruptcy,  though 
having  individual  citizens   possessed   of  immense  wealth. 


I.]  CARTHAGE.  33 

Avarice  soon  stifled  patriotism  in  the  hearts  of  the  rich; 
the  mercenary  troops  could  not  be  paid;  they  revolted, 
and  more  than  once  brought  Carthage  to  the  brink  of 
ruin.  Immense  fortunes  had  been  amassed  by  a  few, 
while  the  poorer  classes  became  still  poorer.  The  rich 
fell  into  luxurious  and  extravagant  ways  of  living,  which 
the  poorer  and  middle  classes  attempted  to  imitate,  but 
of  course  could  not.  Jealousies  and  feuds  between  lead- 
ing parties  and  leading  men,  such  as  those  between  Ilanno 
and  Hamilcar  Baca,  those  between  capital  and  labor,  be- 
tween the  aristocracy  and  the  democracy,  between  war 
and  peace  parties,  became  frequent,  and  were  in  Carthage, 
as  elsewhere,  extremelj^  demoralizing.  Infringements  and 
violations  of  the  national  constitution  followed.  Several 
distinct  offices  were  unconstitutionally  combined  in  one 
person,  who,  by  force  or  bribes,  could  command  them,  for 
the  masses  came  to  care  not  for  the  republic,  but  thought 
only  of  the  next  dinner.  The  profligate  citizens  often 
broke  up  into  angiy  and  tumultuous  factions,  and  were 
utterly  uncontrollable.  The  formation  of  the  court  of  the 
One  Hundred  was  inevitable,  and  this,  managed  by  a  few 
bold  leaders,  became  at  length  a  political  inquisition,  or- 
dering banishment  or  death  as  it  might  dictate.  In  this 
way,  as  might  be  expected,  Carthage,  during  the  space 
of  a  few  months,  lost  many  of  her  best  citizens.  Cartha- 
ginian subjects  in  Africa  and  in  the  Punic  towns,  groan- 
ing under  the  burdens  of  increased  taxation  and  internal 
revenues,  became  rebels.  These  insurrections  the  state 
had  no  power  to  suppress. 

When,  therefore,  this  internally  divided  republic,  whose 
citizens  were  destitute  of  a  self-sacrificing  patriotism,  could 
3 


34  ■    ^.  FATE  OF  EEPUBLICS.  [part 


agree  upon  no  policy,  when  there  was  no  man  daring 
enough  to  usurp  control  of  the  government  and  unite  the 
people,  then  Carthage  was  attacked  by  the  Romans,  and 
fell.  Her  fall,  however,  was  not  so  much  through  Roman 
might  and  prowess  as  through  her  own  folly. 

Destroyed  by  national  prosperity,  by  extravagant  out- 
lays, by  political  jealousies,  and  by  contending  parties,  is 
the  epitaph  to  be  written  over  the  grave  of  the  once  fa- 
mous Carthaginian  republic.  This  is  but  one  of  many 
illustrations  of  the  ease  with  which  a  mighty  people,  when 
divided  into  contending  factions,  may  be  conquered  by  a 
foe  far  inferior. 

In  a  cliaracteristic  and  brutal  manner  the  Romans  com- 
pleted their  conquest  of  this  sister  republic.  Her  stately 
metropolis,  which  had  been  enriched  with  the  gold  and 
the  silver,  the  statues  and  the  pictures  of  a  score  of  coun- 
tries, with  its  towers,  its  ramparts,  its  walls,  its  canals,  its 
ornamental  displays,  and  its  public  and  private  parks  and 
edifices  of  every  character,  which  the  industrious  Cartha- 
ginians had  consti'ucted  during  the  course  of  many  ages, 
and  at  vast  expense,  were  completely  destroyed;  not  a 
single  house  was  permitted  to  stand  when  the  first  con- 
querors entered  the  city.'* 

This  destruction  was  about  146  b.  c.  Twenty-four  years 
later,  C.  Gracchus,  then  tribune  of  the  Roman  people,  in 
order  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  multitude,  undertook 
to  rebuild  Carthage,  though  the  Roman  Senate  had  ordered 
that  it  should  never  be  inhabited,  denouncing  fearful  im- 
precations against  any  one  who,  contrary  to  the  prohibi- 
tion, should  dare  attempt  its  restoration.  Gracchus  sent 
thither  a  colony  of  six   thousand  Roman  citizens.      But 


I.]  CARTHAG 

whatever  of  the  city  was  restored  by  Gracchus,  was  again 
laid  in  ashes  by  Maxentius.  Afterwards  it  was  rebuilt 
by  Julius  Caesar,  but  subsequently  taken  by  Genseric,  the 
Vandal  king.  Still  later  it  was  so  utterly  demolished  by 
the  Mohammedan  Saracens  that  there  was  scarcely  a  ves- 
tige left,  and  thus  it  has  remained  to  the  present  day. 

"This  gi'eat  city,  therefore,  furnishes  the  most  striking 
example  in  the  annals  of  the  world  of  a  mighty  power, 
which,  having  long  ruled  over  subject  peoples,  taught 
them  the  arts  of  commerce  and  civilization,  and  created 
for  them  an  imperishable  name,  has  left  behind  it  little 
more  than  a  name."  "A  state  perished,  in  which  Rome 
lost,"  as  Schmitz  says,  "what  could  never  be  restored  to 
her,  a  noble  rival." 

"  Delenda  est  Carthaoro !    let  the  tear 
Still  drop,  deserted  Carthage,  on  thy  bier; 
Let  mighty  nations  pause  as  they  sui'vey 
The  world's  great  empires  crumbled  to  decay; 
And,  hushing  every  rising  tone  of  pride. 
Deep  in  the  heart  this  moral  lesson  hide, 
Which  speaks  with  hollow  voice  as  from  the  dead, 
Of  beauty  faded  and  of  glory  fled  — 
Delenda  est  Carthago." 


CHAPTER    IV. 


ROME. 


From  Greece  and  Carthage  to  the  Roman  republic,  which 
had  conquered  them  both,  is  a  natural  transition.  Like 
Greece,  Italy  had  natural  barriers  against  invasions  scarcely 
equalled.  A  peninsula  stretching  down  into  the  Mediter- 
ranean seven  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  securely  protected 
on  the  north  by  the  Alps,  was  all  that  could  be  asked,  in 
those  early  times,  as  to  physical  defence. 

The  primitive  inhabitants  of  Rome,  like  the  Israelites 
and  early  Greeks,  were  organized  into  tribes,  clans,  and 
families.  A  succession  of  Etruscan  kings,  beginning,  per- 
haps, 600  b.  c,  next  ruled  the  country;  later,  regal  Rome 
mastered  the  entire  Latin  coast,  and  was  in  position  to 
make  treaties  with  the  great  powers  of  the  world.  Un- 
der Servius  Tullius,  the  primitive  and  crude  constitution 
of  Rome  was  modified  so  as  to  receive  the  common  joeo- 
ple  into  state  councils  upon  a  property  qualification.  The 
death  of  Tullius,  b.  c.  535,  brought  to  an  end  the  early 
kingdom  of  Rome. 

During  the  next  two  centuries  the  government  was 
strongly  conservative,  though  upon  certain  matters  there 
were  frequent  and  bitter  conflicts  between  the  senate  and 

36 


PART  I.]  ROME.  37 

the  commonalty.  The  democrats  resolutely  pleaded  for  more 
power  and  for  a  redistribution  of  property.  In  326  b.  c, 
the  democracy  was  triumphant,  and  the  Publilian  Law, 
which  entitled  every  person  to  vote  without  regard  to  the 
value  of  his  property,  was  enacted.  In  300  B.  c,  the 
Ogulnian  law  jmssed,  and  all  distinctions  between  patri- 
cians and  plebeians,  as  to  holding  office,  gradually  disap- 
peared. It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  Rome,  among 
all  her  neighbors,  at  that  time  stood  alone  in  her  strug- 
gles to  emancipate  herself  from  both  kingly  and  oligar- 
chical domination. 

During  these  years  of  her  formative  history,  Rome  had 
the  well-nigh  inestimable  advantage  of  the  military  spirit 
and  discipline.  Her  regular  armj^  especially  when  on 
the  defence,  was  mighty  because  constituted  of  property 
owners.  Even  the  youth,  sons  of  patrician  and  equestrian 
families,  were  organized  into  troops  whose  chief  was  called 
"Prince  of  the  Youth."  "If  you  would  know  why  Rome 
was  great,"  says  a  diligent  student  of  Roman  history, 
"consider  that  Roman  soldier  whose  armed  skeleton  was 
found  in  a  recess  near  the  gate  of  Pompeii.  When  on 
that  guilty  little  city  burst  the  sulphurous  storm,  the  un- 
daunted hero  dropped  the  visor  of  his  helmet,  and  stood 
there  to  die."  '^ 

Like  Greece  and  Carthage,  Rome,  while  in  her  ascend- 
ency, retained  respect  for  the  arts  of  agriculture.  The 
plains  of  Italy  were  abundant  in  crops  of  various  kinds, 
and  rich  in  pastures  and  flocks.  "The  main  source  of 
wealth  among  the  Romans,  and  their  most  honorable  oc- 
cupation," says  Schmitz,  "  was  agriculture.  The  gi*eatest 
generals  and  statesmen,  after  holding  for  a  time  the  helm 


38  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

of  the  republic,  and  gaining  victories  and  triumphs,  did 
not  scruple  to  return  to  the  plough  and  live  in  rural 
'retirement."  '^ 

Later,  the  national  taste  and  culture  of  Rome  became 
such  that  the  world  has  never  hesitated  in  these  matters 
to  acknowledge  her  superiority.  From  the  death  of  Sulla 
to  that  of  Augustus,  a  period  of  ninety  years,  was  Rome's 
golden  age  in  literature.  There  were  minds,  in  every 
branch,  which  only  Greece  has  surpassed.  Private  and 
public  libraries  were  established,  and  there  were  schools, 
public  and  private,  whose  teachers  and  professors  were 
taken  from  the  best  scholars  of  all  nations.  The  list  of 
distinguished  men  is  of  a  character  to  make  any  people 
proud.  Pompey  and  Ctesar,  Cicero  and  Cato,  Virgil,  Hor- 
ace, and  a  list  only  a  little  less  noted,  might  be  enumer- 
ated. 

Rome,  protected  by  her  natural  boundaries,  and  compact 
in  her  population,  after  making  herself  mistress  of  the 
peninsula  of  Italy,  yielded  to  natural  human  instincts  of 
extending  her  territory,  and  at  length  determined  the  fate 
of  the  world. 

During  the  hundred  years  just  preceding  the  monarchy 
under  Augustus,  the  political  power  of  the  republic  was 
colossal ;  she  held  sway  over  all  the  islands  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean, conquered  and  ruled  Egypt,  Cyrene,  the  African 
territories  of  ancient  Carthage,  Numidia,  Mauritania, 
Spain,  Gaul  as  far  as  the  Rhine,  lUyricum,  Pannonia,  Dal- 
matia,  Moesia,  Macedonia,  Thrace,  Greece,  and  nearly  the 
whole  immense  territories  of  Asia  lying  betwden  Mount 
Caucasus,  the  Caspian  Sea,  the  Parthian  empire,  the  Per- 
sian and  Arabian  srulfs,  and  the  Mediterranean. 


I.]  ROME.  39 

Such  were  the  position,  strength,  and  vast  extent  of  the 
Roman  republic.  If  permanency  and  stability  can  be  ex- 
pected in  human  governments,  Rome  might  well  have 
been  regarded  as  secure  and  mighty.  During  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  years,  that  is,  from  265  to  145  b.  c,  the 
constitution  of  the  Roman  republic  retained  its  vigor,  work- 
ing, to  all  appearance,  in  the  highest  perfection. 

But,  notwithstanding  all  these  advantages  and  these 
prophecies  of  continued  gi-eatness,  that  majestic  Roman 
republic  is  now  only  a  name  in  history.  After  the  republic 
came  the  empire,  in  which  were  some  of  the  most  cruel 
despots  who  have  ever  disgraced  humanity. 

After  the  glory  and  the  shame  of  the  empire  came  bar- 
barian conquests  and  spoliations;  and  after  the  northern, 
eastern,  and  western  invasions,  came  the  deplorable  sway 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  church. 

The  question  naturally  asked  by  every  friend  of  republi- 
can institutions  is.  Why  is  not  Rome  to-day  a  flourishing 
republic,  something  as  she  was  during  the  time  of  her  as- 
cendency and  domination?  She  had  before  her  the  history 
of  the  Grecian  republics  and  the  history  of  the  Carthaginian 
republic;  historic  lessons  were  studied  in  her  schools  and 
recounted  in  public  assemblies.  But  Rome  wi'apped  ban- 
dages about  her  eyes  and  marched  into  the  same  dark 
gulfs,  where  had  sunk  her  sister  republics. 

The  steps  leading  from  Rome's  greatness  to  her  degra- 
dation are  very  easily  traced.  It  will  be  seen  at  the  out- 
set, however,  that  the  path  to  her  overthrow  was  not  in  the 
direction  of  disunion.  Comparing  the  Grecian  and  the  Ro- 
man republics,  the  important  discovery  is  made,  that,  while 
a  disunion  of  states  is  perilous,  a  centralized  government, 


40  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

even  the  strongest,  is  not  on  that  account  secure  against 
subversion  and  overthrow.  The  curse  of  great,  and  espe- 
cially of  rapidly  accumulated  wealth,  stands  among  the 
first  of  a  series  of  destructive  evils  in  the  Roman  common- 
wealth. Especially  after  the  victories  over  Macedonia  and 
Antiochus,  Rome  rapidly  extended  her  commercial  rela- 
tions, and  opened  the  way  to  immense  mercantile  fortunes. 
The  success  of  Roman  arms  also  brought  rich  prizes  to 
commanders  and  soldiers.*'''  Wealth  was  no  longer,  as 
aforetime,  measured  by  copper,  but  by  silver  and  gold. 
The  desire  and  passion  for  accumulation  took  possession 
of  all  classes.  Ancient  simplicity  in  modes  of  living,  as 
might  be  expected,  gave  place  to  inordinate  extrava- 
gance. The  elegance  of  the  private  residences  of  leading 
Romans  had  never  been  surpassed.  A  slave,  who  was  a 
good  cook,  commanded  the  highest  price  in  the  market  "* 
All  wlio  could  afford  to  do  so  indulged  fully  in  the  luxuries 
of  Greece  and  the  Orient ;  those  who  could  not  were  filled 
with  hatred  towards  those  who  could.  The  love  of  tlie 
theatre  was  followed  by  a  passion  for  the  more  degrading 
public  shows  and  bloody  gladiatorial  exhibitions.  The 
avarice  of  the  great,  the  licentiousness  of  the  populace,  and 
the  gi'owing  cruelty  of  all  classes,  settled  like  a  miasm  upon 
the  Roman  republic. 

Shortly  after  the  victories  over  Macedonia,  the  Romans 
began  to  look  upon  agriculture  as  no  longer  worthy  of  rank 
among  honorable  occupations;  it  was  consequently  aban- 
doned to  slaves.  In  early  times  there  was  a  law  that  no 
man  should  own  more  than  five  hundred  acres.  But  this 
law  became  a  dead  letter,  and  those  who  had  opportunities 
for  accumulating  immense  fortunes  bought  up  the  estates 


1.]  ROME.  41 

of  small  landed  proprietors,  using  them  for  pastm-es,  plac- 
ing them  under  the  cultivation  of  slaves,  cutting  them  up 
into  parks,  or  using  them  for  other  purely  ornamental  pur- 
poses.'^ At  length  Italy,  one  of  the  most  fertile  countries 
of  Europe,  was  dependent  for  her  annual  supply  of  corn 
upon  Sicily,  Africa,  Sardinia,  and  Egypt. 

Those  who  were  thoughtful  and  patriotic  students  of  Ro- 
man affiiirs  earnestly  sought  to  correct  these  evils.  Tiberius 
Gracchus  did  all  he  could  to  form  an  industrious  class  of 
agriculturists.  "  The  unemployed  in  the  city  on  the  Seven 
Hills  were  bravely  and  even  tenderly  remembered  by  Grac- 
chus, although  they  contained  explosive  elements,  idle 
tramps,  and  refuse,  which  Shakspeare,  by  the  mouth  of 
Coriolanus,  has  described  as  reek  of  the  rotten  fens."  He 
pleaded  for  a  redistribution  of  the  public  lands,  on  which  he 
saw  slaves  in  chains  performing  manual  labor.  He  sought 
to  enforce  that  ancient  law  by  which  no  more  than  five 
hundred  acres  of  the  public  land  could  belong  to  one  per- 
son, unless  he  had  sons,  in  which  case  two  hundred  and 
fifty  acres  were  added  for  each  son. 

But  in  these  laudable  undertakings  Gracchus  had  but  few 
influential  sympathizers;  he  was  far  more  successful  in 
arousing  the  bitter  resentment  of  the  wealthy  than  in  se- 
curing the  end  he  had  in  view.  In  his  thirty-fifth  year, 
during  an  election  riot  in  Rome,  he  was  cruelly  murdered. 

Virgil  also  attempted  an  agricultural  reform  by  the 
means  of  his  pen.  He  wrote  the  Bucolics  in  order  to  re- 
awaken interest  in  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  But  by  all 
his  poetic  arts  he  was  unable  to  lifl;  into  respectability  what 
the  Romans  had  come  to  look  upon  as  one  of  the  dishon- 
orable employments. 


42  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

In  close  alliance  with  the  evils  already  mentioned,  came 
also  a  blight  upon  the  Roman  family.  Women,  even 
more  than  men,  were  infatuated  and  intoxicated  with  the 
social  excesses  and  licentiousness  of  the  times.  The  care 
and  trouble  incident  to  rearing  a  family  of  children  became 
irksome  to  the  higher  classes,  and  as  a  result  the  number 
of  free  native  Roman  citizens  constantly  decreased,  while 
freedmen,  slaves,  and  foreigners  multiplied  with  extraor- 
dinary rapidity.  And  further :  the  education  of  the  young 
was  no  longer  under  the  eyes  of  parents,  but  was  left  to  the 
care  of  foreign  teachers,  especially  to  the  Greek  pcedagogi. 
Says  Plutarch:  "When  Cassar,  upon  a  certain  occasion, 
happened  tasee  some  women  at  Rome  carrying  young  dogs 
and  monkeys  in  their  arms,  and  fondly  caressing  them,  he 
asked  whether  the  women  in  their  country  never  bore  any 
children,  thus  reproving  with  a  proper  severity  those  who 
lavish  upon  brutes  that  natural  tenderness  which  is  due 
only  to  mankind." 

Laxity  of  morals  was  accompanied  by  scepticism  in 
religion.  In  the  days  of  Cicero  the  people  seemed  to  have 
lost  all  reverential  feeling,  "  and  treated  religious  matters 
either  with  perfect  indifference  or  else  with  ridicule."  ^^ 

In  her  closing  days,  the  republic  was  infested  with  hordes 
of  superficial  and  depraved  lawyers.  Men  read  law,  not 
because  it  was  an  ennobling  study  not  because  they  could 
better  serve  the  commonwealth,  but  because  they  could 
better  serve  themselves  and  attain  positions  otherwise 
denied-  The  road  to  political  preferment  lay  through  the 
practice  of  law.  To  be  a  consul,  one  must  be  a  lawyer. 
The  senate  was  controlled  by  lawyers.  The  patrician 
would  lose  caste  if  he  engaged  in  any  business  except  law. 


I.]  ROME.  43 

But  are  men  who  enter  the  legal  profession  chiefly  for  po- 
litical preferment  safe  rulers  and  legislators  ?  Ask  Rome ! 
During  the  early  days  of  the  republic,  judges,  if  con- 
victed of  taking  bribes,  were  wont  to  be  punished  by  heavy 
fines,  were  disqualified  from  being  senators,  and  were  some- 
times sent  into  exile.  But  later,  the  courts  and  government 
were  so  far  demoralized  that  it  was  a  practice  of  the  most 
common  occurrence  to  buy  up  with  impunity  the  judges  on 
the  bench.  An  appeal  to  the  courts  came  to  be  well-nigh 
useless,  except  to  those  who  could  purchase  decisions. 

"The  love  of  money  and  power  deadened  every  other 
feeling,"  says  an  able  historian;  "and  the  judges  Avere  not 
much  better  than  those  whose  acts  of  injustice  they  were 
called  upon  to  punish." 

We  notice  also,  what  should  always  be  regarded  as  a 
misfortune,  the  decline  of  the  military  spirit  among  the 
native  citizens.  In  107  b.  c,  Marius  set  at  naught  an  an- 
cient custom,  and  enlisted  large  numbers  of  the  poorer 
classes,  who  had  never  before  served  in  the  Roman  legions. 
The  nobles  did  not  object,  since  they  were  thereby  relieved 
from  the  necessity  of  military  service.  They  prized  their 
ease  so  highly  that  they  could  not,  or  at  least  did  not,  see 
the  peril  of  intrusting  militaiy  matters  to  a  few  designing 
leaders  and  to  slaves  and  poor  people,  who  were  without 
patriotism  and  fiercely  greedy  for  pelf  and  plunder. 

Well  may  a  nation  tremble  when,  in  disturbed  times,  an 
ambitious  military  genius  comes  into  power,  at  the  head 
of  slaves  and  aliens.  Since  the  soldiers  of  Rome  served 
not  for  patriotism  but  for  pay,  and  since  they  were  blind 
to  all  interests  save  to  those   of  the    commander,    it   is 


4A  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

not  surprising  that  the  Senate  came  to  dread  the  success 
of  the  national  armies  ahnost  as  much  as  their  defeat.*^' 

The  administration  of  the  general  government  became 
€ven  more  deplorable  and  dangerous  than  that  of  her  courts 
or  her  military  affiiirs.  Strifes  between  different  classes 
and  parties  grew  more  and  more  determined.  The  old 
patrician  aristocracy,  gradually  reduced  in  numbers  and 
influence,  still  clung  tenaciously  to  their  distinctions  and 
rank.  Some  of  the  plebeian  families  which  had  accumu- 
lated wealth  formed  themselves  into  a  new  aristocracy, 
called  "upstarts."  The  feuds  between  these  contending 
factions  were  so  bitter,  that,  during  their  strifes,  the  safety 
of  the  state  was  by  neither  party  cared  for  nor  thought 
of.  The  population  of  the  city,  constantly  increasing  in 
numbers,  but  being  without  property  or  industry,  were  in 
condition  to  be  bought  and  used  by  either  party  or  by  any 
person,  patriot  or  traitor,  who  would  pay  the  largest  price. 

The  "upstarts"  were  thus  enabled  to  buy  the  seats  of 
the  Senate  chamber.  The  Senate  was  degraded  still  fur- 
ther by  the  admission  into  it  of  persons  from  the  most 
disreputable  classes.  These  were  admitted  to  the  highest 
legislative  trusts  through  the  influence  of  corrupt  dema- 
gogues who  desired  their  votes.  Such  senators  never 
thought  of  legislating  for  the  good  of  the  state.  They 
voted  with  and  for  those  who  could  best  pay,  feed,  and 
amuse  them.  The  stern  simplicity  and  strict  morality  of 
early  times  gave  place  on  every  hand  to  intrigue  and  vile 
cunning.  The  mob  element  of  Rome,  having  been  bribed 
and  cajoled  by  unprincipled  political  leaders  and  office- 
seekers,  began  to  feel  that  in  state  matters  they  were  of 
chief  Importance.     "  They  looked  to  the  state  for  a  living, 


I.]  ROME.  45 

and  to  ambitions  office-seekers  for  pastimes  and  amuse- 
ments." The  republic  yielded  to  the  demand,  fed  the  idle 
rabble,  at  one  time  to  the  number  of  three  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand.22  Men  who  wanted  the  votes  of  the  popu- 
lace expended  fortunes  in  games  and  gladiatorial  exhibi- 
tions.23  In  consequence,  the  mob  democracy  became  more 
and  more  difficult  to  manage.  The  Censors,  chiefly  to  keep 
the  city  masses  employed,  ordered  public  expeditions,  such 
as  the  paving  of  streets,  the  gi-avelling  of  roads,  the  build- 
ing of  aqueducts  and  of  bridges.  But  the  vast  number  of 
persons  who  had  been  brought  to  the  city  by  the  conquests 
of  Rome  in  Africa,  Macedonia,  Greece,  and  Spain,  and 
who  were  now  reduced  to  slaveiy,  rendered  their  econom- 
ical employment  impossible.  And  further,  when  it  was 
known  that  the  city  was  giving  employment,  many  from 
the  sun'ounding  provinces  flocked  to  Rome,  to  share  in  the 
labor  and  its  remuneration.  The  embarrassments  were 
thereby  increased.  The  mob  gi'ew  more  and  more  dangerous 
and  threatening;  they  became  lawless  and  abusive.  The 
time  came  when  there  was  no  government;  the  noblest 
Romans,  disgusted  with  mob  dictation  and  rule,  abandoned 
the  republic,  or  obtained  such  military  Commands  as  would 
require  their  presence  in  distant  places. 

Rome  still  had  her  schools  and  her  literature;  Greek 
philosophy  was  mastered  by  a  multitude  of  her  citizens ; 
Greek  manners  were  introduced  into  all  respectable  house- 
holds; children  were  taught  in  history,  poetry,  and  rhet- 
oric. But,  somehow,  all  this  education  did  not  inspire 
patriotism,  reduce  crime,  nor  seemingly  benefit  the  repub- 
lic.    Demagogues,  sacrificing  everything  and  everybody 


46  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

standing  in  the  way  of  their  ambitious  designs,  had  robbed 
the  republic  of  patriotism.  Who  could  love  such  a  coun- 
try? The  state  "became  an  arena  on  which  the  principal 
men  were  merely  struggling  for  power  and  influence." 
Ancient  regulations  for  preserving  the  purity  of  voting 
lists  were  neglected.  It  was  impossible  to  distinguish  be- 
tween those  who  were  entitled  to  the  rights  of  franchise 
and  those  who  were  not.  In  such  disturbed  times  all 
classes  are  under  the  delusion  that  any  change  will  improve 
civil  affairs.  It  was  thus  in  Rome.  The  republic  had  not 
seen  a  Dictator  for  more  than  a  century.  But  when  the 
victorious  general  Sulla  (82  B.C.)  returned  from  his  for- 
eign campaigns,  the  peoi)le  were  in  readiness  to  proclaim 
him  Dictator.  This  position  he  would  not  have  dared  to 
assume  but  for  the  feeble  and  demoralized  republican  sen- 
timent that  opposed  him. 

His  reign  did  not  accomplish  what  was  expected.  He 
mitigated  certain  evils,  but  occasioned  new  ones.  In  order 
to  place  himself  beyond  danger,  he  confiscated  the  posses- 
sions of  the  few  who  would  not  yield,  and  made  them  over 
to  his  soldiers.  The  Roman  franchise  was  also  conferred 
upon  a  body  of  ten  thousand  emancipated  slaves,  and  va- 
cancies in  the  Senate  were  filled  by  Equites  and  Centurions, 
who  for  the  most  part,  being  merely  the  ignorant  and  will- 
ing tools  of  Sulla,  were  utterly  unfit  for  the  position.  He 
thus  formed  an  oligarchy  of  a  new  class  of  citizens,  after 
extir2)ating,  by  murder  and  proscription,  the  old  ones. 
During  his  short  reign,  merely  to  acquire  means  to  satisfy 
his  reckless  and  greedy  soldiers,  he  must  be  held  responsi- 
ble for  the  murder  of  eight  thousand  Samnite  captives, 
forty-six  consulars,  prcetors,  and  asdiles,  two  hundred  sen- 


I.]  ROME.  47 

ators,  sixteen  hundred  equites,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  citizens.  Besides  these  crimes,  he  drove  thou- 
sands of  the  most  industrious  and  peaceable  people  into 
exile,  poverty,  and  wretchedness. 

Sulla,  by  his  tyrannical  power,  smothered  elements  which 
had  threatened  general  conflagration ;  still,  these  suppressed 
dangers  and  evils  awaited  only  a  favorable  opportunity  to 
break  forth  anew. 

Following  the  death  of  Sulla,  while  Roman  arms  were 
everywhere  victorious,  Rome  and  Italy  gi-ew  worse  and 
worse.  Men  like  Catiline  could  be  found  who  were  ready 
to  reduce  the  city  to  ashes  and  to  murder  every  leading 
citizen.  There  were  profligates  of  all  classes,  the  dregs  of 
humanity,  who  were  longing  for  a  revival  of  the  proscrip- 
tions under  the  reign  of  Sulla.  Demagogism  bore  its 
ripest  and  most  loathsome  fruit.  Pompey,  to  secure  the 
favor  of  the  populace,  enrolled  himself  as  a  simple  Eques, 
and  paraded  himself  as  such,  leading  his  horse  in  the  pro- 
cession. He  constantly  sought,  in  the  measures  enacted,  to 
secure  his  own  popularity,  though  the  measures  might  be 
utterly  damaging  to  the  national  welfare.  His  competitor, 
Crassus,  who  could  command  greater  wealth,  sought,  by 
distributing  large  quantities  of  corn  among  the  people,  and 
by  feasting  them  at  thousands  of  public  tables,  to  outbid 
Pompey. 

These  instances  are  mentioned  as  examples  of  what  was 
constantly  taking  place.  It  was  generally  acknowledged 
that  no  one  could  obtain  office  without  expending  money 
or  property  to  bribe  the  electors.  And  yet  the  time  had 
been  in  the  histoiy  of  the  republic  when  canvassing  for 
votes  by  corrupt  means,  or  even  by  personal  solicitation, 


48  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

was  heavily  fined,  and  the  person  convicted  was  exchided 
from  the  Senate,  and  was  perpetually  incapacitated  from 
holding  public  office.  In  the  later  and  degenerate  daj^s, 
however,  office-holders  not  only  bought  up  tlie  popular 
vote,  but,  in  order  to  provide  themselves  with  funds  neces- 
saiy  to  command  votes  for  their  re-election,  freely  embez- 
zled public  moneys  and  practised  all  sorts  of  extortions 
upon  conquered  provinces.24 

The  time  had  been  when  a  public  libeller  might  be  beaten 
to  death,  and,  even  if  the  castigation  did  not  result  fatally, 
he  was  looked  upon  as  civilly  dead,  and  could  neither  give 
evidence  in  court  nor  make  a  will.  But  in  those  later 
days  of  the  republic,  each  candidate  for  office  sought,  by 
calumnies  and  misrepresentations,  to  blacken  the  reputa- 
tion of  his  competitor,  and  thus  the  fickle  populace  was 
made  to  look  upon  even  the  best  friends  of  the  republic 
with  suspicion  and  distrust.  At  length  these  controversies 
were  so  heated,  and  the  jealousies  so  bitter,  that  there 
seemed  no  safety  for  either  the  citizen  or  the  state. 

There  were  likewise  other  gi'ounds  of  insecurity.  From 
the  time  when  Sulla  had  allied  himself  with  the  murderous 
Catiline,  in  order  to  defeat  his  aged  rival  C.  Marius,  there 
had  been  coalitions  of  singular  and  startling  character. 
Corrupt  and  daring  men  were  constantly  in  league,  not 
chiefly,  ahd  in  most  instances  not  at  all,  for  the  public  good, 
but  to  defeat  opponents,  to  secure  personal  safety  or  ag- 
grandizement. Marius  entered  into  league  with  the  bold 
and  cunning  tribune  P.  Sulpicius,  who,  in  defiance  of  con- 
stitutional authority,  dared  to  organize  a  body  of  three 
thousand  gladiators,  whom  he  termed  his  anti-senate. 
Other  famous  alliances  were  those  between  M.  -^milius 


I.]  ROME.  4,9 

Lepidus  and  Q.  Lntatins  Catiiliis,  Brutus  and  Pompey, 
Claudius  and  ]\Iilo,  Pompey  and  Cresar,  Antony  and  Cor- 
nelius. Two  or  three  of  these  designing  and  able  men, 
by  patronizing  the  unemployed  classes,  —  the  husbandmen 
who  had  been  reduced  to  beggary,  the  military  desperados 
who  thronged  the  country,  the  exiled  citizens,  and  the  hun- 
gry populace,  —  could  easily  organize  an  army  and  wield  it 
solely  for  selfish  purposes.  The  few  noble-minded  men 
"who  came  forward  to  put  their  hands  to  the  wheel." 
fell  victims  to  their  own  patriotic  efforts,  and  were  crushed 
under  the  vice  and  tyranny  of  the  hour. 

In  60  B.  c,  eighteen  years  after  the  death  of  Sulla,  Caesar, 
Pompey,  and  Crassus,  by  uniting  their  strength,  found  it 
an  easy  matter  to  seize  and  hold  in  their  hands  the  ilite 
of  the  republic.  Crassus  wanted  wealth,  Pompey  wanted 
to  rule  Asia,  and  Ccesar  wanted  to  rise  above  them  both. 

Within  seven  years  ajftairs  gi'ew  so  turbulent  that  Pom- 
pey was  made  sole  consul,  an  appointment  the  first  of  its 
kind  in  the  history  of  Rome.  At  the  death  of  Crassus,  all 
authority  passed  into  the  hands  of  Pompey  and  Ccesar. 
Still  the  mass  of  the  people  did  not  remonstrate ;  the  re- 
public had  sunk  so  low  that  one  or  two  strong  men  must 
head  affairs ;  it  might  as  well  he  Pompey  and  Caesar  as  any 
other  two  or  three  whom  the  citizens  could  name. 

But  more  than  this.  The  state  was  in  such  condition, 
and  the  ancient  reverence  for  the  constitution  had  so  far 
diminished,  that  it  could  be  violated  with  the  utmost  im- 
punity. The  repeated  election  of  Marius  to  consulship; 
the  investment  of  Pompey  with  supreme  command  over 
all  parts  and  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean,  a  power  subse- 
quently extended  over  Bithynia,  Pontus,  and  Armenia ;  the 
4 


50  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

extension  of  time  in  the  ruling  of  provinces ;  the  domina- 
tion of  the  tribunes,  and  the  putting  to  death  of  Roman 
citizens  without  trial,  —  were  a  few  of  the  many  constitu- 
tional infringements  which,  with  scarcely  a  popular  protest, 
were  enacted  by  the  leading  men  of  the  republic. 

These  repeated  transgressions  of  the  constitution,  and 
this  unsettled  condition  of  public  affiiirs,  filled  Caesar 
with  daring  sufficient  to  cross  the  Rubicon  without  asking 
permission  of  the  Senate.  That  bold  and  law-defying  step 
was  to  settle  the  question  whether  Rome  was  master  of 
herself  or  subject  to  Ca3sar.  "On  the  ever-memorable 
night,"  says  De  Quincey,  '*  when  he  had  resolved  to  take 
the  first  step  (and  in  such  a  case  the  first  step,  as  regarded 
the  power  of  retreating,  was  also  the  final  step)  which 
placed  him  in  arms  against  the  state,  it  happened  that  his 
head-quarters  were  at  some  distance  from  the  little  river 
Rubicon,  which  formed  the  boundary  of  his  province.  With 
his  usual  caution,  that  no  news  of  his  motions  might  run 
before  himself,  on  this  night  Caesar  gave  an  entertainment 
to  his  friends,  in  the  midst  of  which  he  slipped  away  unob- 
served, and  with  a  small  retinue  proceeded  through  the 
woods  to  the  point  of  the  river  at  which  he  designed  to 
cross.  The  night  was  stormy,  and  by  the  violence  of  the 
wind  all  the  torches  of  his  escort  were  blown  out,  so  that 
the  whole  party  lost  their  road,  having  probably  at  first  in- 
tentionally deviated  from  the  main  route,  and  wandered 
about  through  the  whole  night,  until  the  early  dawn  ena- 
bled them  to  recover  their  true  course.  The  light  was  still 
gray  and  uncertain,  as  Caesar  and  his  retinue  rode  down 
upon  the  banks  of  the  fatal  river  —  to  cross  which  with 
arms  in  his  hands,  since  the  further  bank  lay  within  the 


I.]  ROME.  51 

territoiy  of  the  republic,  ipso  facto,  proclaimed  any  Roman 
a  rebel  and  a  traitor.  No  man,  the  firmest  or  the  most 
obtuse,  could  be  otherwise  than  deeply  agitated,  when  look- 
ing down  upon  this  little  brook,  so  insignificant  in  itself, 
but  invested  by  law  with  a  sanctity  so  awful,  and  so  dire 
a  consecration.  The  whole  course  of  future  history,  and 
the  fate  of  every  nation,  would  necessarily  be  determined 
by  the  irretrievable  act  of  the  next  half  hour, 

•'  In  these  moments,  and  with  this  spectacle  before  him, 
and  contemplating  these  immeasurable  consequences  con- 
sciously for  the  last  time  that  could  allow  him  a  retreat,  — 
impressed  also  by  the  solemnity  and  deep  tranquillity  of 
the  silent  dawn,  whilst  the  exhaustion  of  liis  niglit  wan- 
derings predisposed  him  to  nervous  irritation,  —  Caesar,  we 
may  be  sure,  was  profoundly  agitated.  The  whole  elements 
of  the  scene  were  almost  scenicalty  disposed ;  the  law  of 
antagonism  having  perhaps  never  been  employed  with  so 
much  effect :  the  little  quiet  brook  presenting  a  direct  an- 
tithesis to  its  grand  political  character;  and  the  innocent 
dawn,  with  its  pure,  untroubled  repose,  contrasting  po- 
tently, to  a  man  of  any  intellectual  sensibility,  with  the 
long  chaos  of  bloodshed,  darkness,  and  anarchy  which  was 
to  take  its  rise  from  the  apparently  trifling  acts  of  this  one 
morning.  So  prepared,  we  need  not  much  wonder  at  what 
followed.  Caesar  was  yet  lingering  on  the  hither  bank, 
when  suddenly,  at  a  point  not  far  distant  from  himself,  an 
apparition  was  descried  in  a  sitting  posture,  and  holding 
in  its  hand  what  seemed  a  flute.  This  phantom  was  of 
unusual  size,  and  of  beauty  more  than  human,  so  far  as  its 
lineaments  could  be  traced  in  the  early  dawn.  What  is 
singular,  however,  in  the  story,  on  any  hypothesis  which 


52  FATE  OF  KEPUBLICS.  [part 

would  explain  it  out  of  Ca3sar's  individual  condition,  is, 
that  others  saw  it  as  well  as  he;  both  pastoral  laborers, 
(who  were  present,  probably  in  the  character  of  guides,) 
and  some  of  the  sentinels  stationed  at  the  passage  of  the 
river.  These  men  fancied  even  that  a  strain  of  music  issued 
fi'om  this  aerial  flute.  And  some,  both  of  the  shepherds 
and  the  Roman  soldiers,  who  were  bolder  than  the  rest,  ad- 
vanced towards  the  figure.  Amongst  this  party,  it  hap- 
pened that  there  were  a  few  Roman  trumpeters.  From 
one  of  these,  the  phantom,  rising  as  they  advanced  nearer, 
suddenly  caught  a  trumpet,  and  blowing  through  it  a  blast 
of  superhuman  strength,  plunged  into  the  Rubicon,  passed 
to  the  other  bank,  and  disappeared  in  the  dusky  twilight 
of  the  dawn.  Upon  which  Csesar  exclaimed:  'It  is  fin- 
ished—  the  die  is  cast  —  let  us  follow  whither  the  guiding 
portents  from  heaven,  and  the  malice  of  our  enemy,  alike 
summon  us  to  go.'  So  saying,  he  crossed  the  river  with 
impetuosity;  and,  in  a  sudden  rapture  of  passionate  and 
vindictive  ambition,  placed  himself  and  his  retinue  upon 
the  Italian  soil ;  and,  as  if  by  inspiration  from  Heaven,  in 
one  moment  involved  himself  and  his  followers  in  treason, 
raised  the  standard  of  revolt,  put  his  foot  upon  the  neck  of 
the  invincible  republic  which  had  humbled  all  the  kings 
of  the  earth,  and  founded  an  empire  which  was  to  last  for 
a  thousand  and  half  a  thousand  years.  In  what  manner 
this  spectral  appearance  was  managed  —  whether  Caesar 
were  its  author,  or  its  dupe — will  remain  unknown  forever. 
But  undoubtedly  this  was  the  first  time  that  the  advanced 
guard  of  a  victorious  army  was  headed  by  an  apparition ; 
and  we  may  conjecture  that  it  will  be  the  last." 
After  taking  this  bold  step,  it  was  comparatively  an  easy 


I.]  ROME.  53 

matter  for  Caesar  to  dare  other  political  transgi'essions. 
He  broke  open  the  national  treasury,  took  for  personal  and 
campaign  pm'poses  the  public  money,  and  caused  himself 
to  be  nominated  Dictator  by  Lepidus,  a  praetor.  These  were 
clearly  illegal  acts.25  But  when  nearly  all  public  acts 
were  both  illegal  and  unjust,  who  could  well  object  to  what 
Caesar  had  done  ?  26  Assuming  the  position  of  Dictator, 
the  senate  and  people  at  once  meekly  bowed  to  the  will 
of  this  great  leader  and  usurper.  To  make  himself  secure 
against  political  opponents,  Caesar  confiscated  and  sold  the 
property  of  Pompey,  and,  by  arbitrary  will,  introduced 
many  personal  friends  and  partisans  into  the  Senate.  This 
packed  senate  received  Caesar,  after  his  Spanish  victories, 
with  the  most  abject  flattery  and  servility.  He  was  pro- 
nounced "the  father  of  his  country."  He  was  sovereign 
and  usurper  of  the  republic  —  more  properly,  sovereign  and 
usurper  of  a  wrecked  republic. 

"\Ylien,  therefore,  Rome  had  become  little  better  than  a 
den  of  robbers  and  vagabonds;  when  extravagance  and 
luxury  had  reached  their  height  in  such  fiimilies  as  had 
the  means  of  indulgence ;  when  audacity  and  impudence 
were  rampant  among  the  rabble  because  law  was  powerless 
to  check  them;  when  good  men,  whose  number  gi-ew 
smaller  and  smaller,  had  everything  to  fear,  while  bad 
men  felt  that,  whatever  the  changes  impending,  their  con- 
dition could  only  be  improved ;  —  when  aftairs  had  come  to 
this  desperate  pass,  then  the  Roman  republic  existed  only 
in  name.  The  strifes  between  conflicting  political  parties ; 
the  arrogance  and  corruptions  of  wealth ;  the  distress  of 
poverty;  the  hired  assassin,  the  blood-stained  streets  and 
balls,  led  the  law-abiding  citizens  of  all  classes,  even  the 


54  FATE   OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

most  patriotic,  —  men  of  letters,  like  Horace,  those  who 
had  done  all  in  their  power  to  save  the  republic,  —  to  cry- 
out  for  a  king,  or  for  a  military^  despot,  for  any  usurper  who 
could  maintain  order  and  who  would  promise  to  restore 
prosperity  to  the  suffering  commonwealth.  Usurpation  in 
such  an  hour  is  not  a  crime;  it  is,  upon  the  ground  of  a 
gi-eater  good  to  a  gi'eater  number,  positively  demanded  of 
one  who  has  ability  or  power  to  bring  order  out  of  confu- 
sion. It  was  no  longer  a  question  whether  the  Roman 
republic  should  continue;  the  question  was,  rather,  who, 
upon  its  ruins,  shall  establish  the  Roman  empire?  If  none 
were  fitter,  who  could  object  to  Cassar? 

The  conspiracy  of  Brutus  and  Cassius,  which  resulted  in 
the  murder  of  Cresar,  shows  that  there  were  a  few  who 
would  not  submit  gracefully.  They  revolted,  however,  not 
through  patriotism,  but  because  they  were  ambitious  for 
the  place  held  by  Coesar.  All  things  considered,  the  death 
of  Caesar  must  be  looked  upon  as  a  loss  to  the  Roman  peo- 
ple. They  needed  a  ruler ;  they  were  not  likely  to  find  one 
superior  to  the  assassinated  dictator. 

After  the  murder  of  Caesar,  Octavianus,  his  nephew,  after- 
wards emperor  Augustus,  who  had  been  adopted  as  the  suc- 
cessor of  the  childless  Cfesar,  allied  himself  with  two  other 
men,  Antony  and  Lepidus,  to  rule  the  empire.  They  first 
gained  over  the  soldiers  by  promising  to  distribute  lands 
among  them ;  they  next  rid  themselves  of  enemies  by  the 
terrible  process  of  proscription.  The  names  of  persons 
whom  they  disliked  were  written  upon  a  list  which  was 
publicly  posted.  Any  man  was  at  liberty  to  kill  the  pro- 
scribed, and  in  many  cases  large  rewards  were  offered  the 
assassins.     Men  were  proscribed  whose  only  offence  was 


I.]  ROME.  55 

that  they  had  been  friendly  to  some  opponent,  or  that  they 
were  rich.  Death  was  threatened  also  to  any  person  who 
should  dare  conceal  or  aid  a  proscribed  citizen.  The 
scenes  of  inhuman  cruelty  enacted  in  Rome  at  that  period 
were  not  less  brutal  than  the  horrors  in  France  during  the 
days  of  RobespieiTC,  Danton,  and  Marat.  Two  thousand 
Equites  and  three  hundred  senators  were  massacred  during 
a  few  days,  while  hundreds  of  the  best  citizens  fled  for 
protection  to  Sicily  and  to  other  places  more  distant.  The 
remaining  steps  which  carried  the  republic  completely  under 
the  imperial  sway  of  Augustus  were  quickly  taken.  One 
of  these  triumvirs,  Lepidus,  was  defeated,  leaving  the  af- 
fairs of  the  empire  in  the  hands  of  Octavianus  and  Antony. 
Misfortunes  came  upon  Antony,  while  Octavianus  was 
everywhere  successful. 

In  the  year  29  b.  c.  Octavianus  returned  to  Rome  to  cel- 
ebrate the  national  victories.  He  was  greeted  by  the  peo- 
ple with  the  gi'eatest  enthusiasm,  and  the  senate  conferred 
upon  him  the  title  of  Imperator  for  life.  The  Roman 
republic,  dead  for  years,  was  now  buried,  and  the  people 
were  glad.  They  hailed  with  delight  the  end  of  feuds 
and  the  establishment  of  a  monarchy.^? 

Here  in  Italy  were  the  same  inspiring  sceneiy,  the  same 
rich  fields,  the  same  climate,  essentially  the  same  blood ; 
but  a  degenerate  and  demoralized  people  had  become  such 
that  they  could  no  longer  live  safely  except  under  the 
strong  hand  of  a  monarch.  Here,  therefore,  is  an  illustra- 
tion of  what  has  more  than  once  appeared  in  history,  namely, 
a  form  of  government  well  adapted  to  one  age  being  but 
poorly  adapted  to  another.  Therefore  a  given  form  of 
government  which  should  be  fought  for  under  one  class 


56  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [pakt 

of  circumstances,  should  not,  under  a  diflferent  class,  be 
defended  by  the  drawing  of  a  single  sword. 

The  new  emperor  Augustus  reigned  forty-three  years 
(B.C.  29 — A.  D.  14).  He  restored  the  blessings  of  peace. 
Rome,  the  den  of  robbers,  was  renovated  and  rendered  safe 
to  dwell  in.  The  people,  for  the  most  part,  seemed  to  have 
forgotten  their  past  political  freedom,  losing  all  interest  in 
political  matters.  The  monarch,  without  pojiular  remon- 
strance, gi'adually  assumed  the  different  powers  of  the  state 
in  his  own  person.  He  excluded  the  *'  upstart "  from  the 
senate,  limited  the  number  of  senators,  then  limited  their 
meetings,  and  lastly,  in  the  administration  of  public  affairs, 
ignored  the  body  almost  entirely.  He  had  no  ministers 
of  state,  but  sought  the  advice  of  personal  friends  of  ac- 
knowledged ability.  Yet  so  beneficent  was  the  govern- 
ment that  all  praised  it,  and  the  power  of  Augustus  was  as 
safe  as  if,  instead  of  being  a  usurper,  as  he  really  was,  he 
had  been  born  to  the  throne  of  the  Roman  empire. 

This  appears  well  for  Italy  and  Rome  at  that  time  and 
under  that  emperor ;  but  let  republicans  in  all  existing  re- 
publics, who  are  sighing  for  a  monarchy,  reflect  and  re- 
member, that  after  Augustus  came  the  bloody  tyrant, 
Tiberius,  and  later,  the  impious  and  cruel  Caligula,  then 
Nero,  at  the  mention  of  whose  name  the  world  shudders. 
Afterwards  came  Domitian,  whose  impiousness  equalled 
that  of  -Caligula  and  whose  cruelty  was  like  that  of  Nero. 

After  the  emperors  followed  the  period  of  invasions. 
Alaric,  the  Visigoth,  sacked  Rome ;  Attila  destroyed  other 
cities  of  Italy,  and  Odoacer  brought  the  empire  completely 
to  an  end.  Theodoric,  king  of  the  Ostrogoths,  established 
a  monarchy  which  was  overthrown  by  Belisarius  and  Nar- 


1.]  ROME.  57 

setes.  Afterwards  the  Lombards  obtained  mastery,  but 
their  kingdom  was  overtlii'own  by  Charlemagne,  and  the 
laws  of  the  state  gave  way  to  the  laws  of  the  Romish 
church.  And  then  that  country  which  had  been  a  republic 
—  in  some  respects  the  greatest  republic  of  the  world  — 
was  ruled  by  one  mind,  "  that  of  a  single  pope,  and  by  one 
sword,  that  of  a  single  emperor." 


II. 


EXTINCT  REPUBLICS;    MEDIEVAL  AND  MODERN 
DATE. 


59 


CHAPTER    I. 

I.    LOMBARD    COMMUNES.  II.    GENOA.  —  III.    VENICE. — - 

IV.    AMALFI. V.    FREE  CITIES  OF  GERMANY. VI.    ICE- 
LAND. 

In  the  north  of  Italy,  upon  the  tenitory  extending  from  tlie 
Alps  to  the  Po,  and  from  Lago  Maggiore  and  the  Ticiiio 
to  Lago  di  Garda  and  the  Mincio,  are  several  cities  which 
in  the  eleventh  centmy  achieved  their  independence.  Be- 
tween these  cities  there  was  no  firm  federal  compact, 
though  in  times  of  danger  they  sometimes  formed  powerful 
leagues.  In  union  they  were  enabled  to  defeat  Frederic  Bar- 
barossa,  in  1176,  and  Frederic  II.  in  1225.  Following  the 
Peace  of  Constance  (1183),  they  rapidly  increased  in  wealth, 
power,  and  influence.  They  were  the  centres  of  a  remark- 
able revival  in  commerce,  art,  and  learning.  Italy  seemed 
again  the  home  of  freedom  and  of  civil  and  political  pros- 
perity. But  to-day  all  these  republics,  except  San  Marino, 
on  Monte  Titanus,  are  merely  historic.  Their  stoiy  is 
briefly  told.  In  1220  civil  contentions  between  the  nobles 
and  the  commons  assumed  a  threatening  character.  In 
JMilan,  Piacenza,  Modena,  Cremona,  and  Bologna,  there 
was  resort  to  arms.  The  disputes  were  based  chiefly  upon 
the  question  of  a  form  of  government  —  whether  it  should 
be  purely  democratic  or  oligarchic.  Occasionally  the  rival 
parties  would  patch  up  a  hollow  peace,  which  was  sure 
to  be  followed  by  a  renewal  of  hostilities. 

61 


62  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

At  length  social  and  political  quiet  gave  place  entirely 
to  altercation,  wrangling,  and  political  proscription.  "  Ex- 
iles were  j^lotting  without,"  says  the  historian,  "  and  traitors 
within.  The  forms  of  a  free  constitution  were  maintained, 
but  they  were  empty  forms.  The  magistrates,  who  were 
nominally  endowed  with  judicial  and  executive  authoritj', 
were  the  mere  puppets  of  the  party  chieftains  who  had 
called  them  into  public  life.  A  government  of  faction 
was  substituted  for  a  government  of  law."  Citizens  were 
proscribed  by  each  dominant  i^arty,  their  houses  sacked 
and  fired,  and  their  prof)erty  confiscated.  Almost  every 
stone  of  those  medieval  palaces  which  had  withstood  the 
ravages  of  so  many  wars  could  "  tell  a  tale  of  frightful 
tragedies,  and  of  the  play  of  ungovernable  passions,  of 
seditions,  revolutions,  and  riots,  which  surged  around  their 
base  and  beat  against  their  gloomy  gigantic  walls." 

Civil  dissensions  in  the  Communes,  as  in  other  historic 
states,  had  weakened  and  then  demoralized  the  citizenship. 
The  people,  being  in  perpetual  danger,  lost  their  love  of 
countiy.  Usurpers  and  invaders  easily  assumed  the  reins 
of  government.  Padua  fell  under  the  power  of  Eccelino ; 
Treviso  surrendered  to  imperial  arms;  Vicenza,  Brescia, 
and  Faenza,  were  taken  by  assault;  JVIilan  yielded  to  an 
imperial  form  of  government,  and  Bologna  quietly  submit- 
ted to  the  Visconti.  The  Visconti  gradually  extended  their 
conquests  until  all  northern  Italy,  except  the  Venetian 
dogado,  surrendered  to  their  domination. 

Florence  remained  longest  the  champion  of  constitutional 
liberty.  She  had  a  famous  histor^^  and  at  the  dawn  of  the 
Christian  era  was  one  of  the  most  flourishing  cities  of 
Europe.     Her  prosperity  and  triumphs  during  the  twelfth 


II.]  LOMBARD  COMMUNES.  63 

century  were  magnificent.  But  later,  that  republic,  wliose 
armies  were  successful  abroad,  whose  territories  were  con- 
stantly extending,  and  whose  financial  credit  was  unchal- 
lenged, found  herself  embroiled  in  civil  disturbances  and 
feuds  that  threatened  her  existence.  She  could  still  in- 
crease in  wealth ;  she  could  command  an  army  of  her  own 
citizenship  of  above  seventy  thousand ;  her  merchants  had 
almost  unlimited  credit  throughout  the  civilized  world ;  she 
cultivated  letters,  had  fiimous  schools  and  encouraged  the 
arts,  but  was  not  capable  of  self-government.  "  The  city," 
says  Machiavelli,  "was  well  able  to  hold  its  own  against 
all  the  states  of  Italy  by  its  own  strength.  That  mischief, 
however,  which  no  power  from  without  could  have  accom- 
plished, was  worked  by  those  within  the  gates." 

The  contending  factions  gi-ew  more  and  more  fierce, 
vindictive,  and  unrelenting.  The  oligarchical  party  was 
first  successful,  and  expelled  those  who  fiivored  democratic 
supremacy.  Next  the  democracy  was  successful,  and 
drove  the  advocates  of  oligarchy  into  exile.  The  battle 
of  Montaperti  (1260)  gave  the  mastery  of  Florence  again 
to  the  aristocrats,  who,  after  the  defeat  of  Manfred  of  Na- 
ples, were  in  turn  overthrown  by  the  democracy.  Subse- 
quently a  third  party,  composed  of  tradesmen,  became 
dominant.  They  excluded  both  the  nobility  and  the  com- 
monalty from  participation  in  the  government.  The  peo- 
ple found,  however,  that  the  rule  of  the  so-called  Citizen 
party  was  as  arrogant  and  tyrannical,  after  a  little  time,  as 
had  been  that  of  the  nobility.  Courts  of  justice  were  de- 
moralized. Money  was  lavishly  expended  with  no  adequate 
returns.  Assassinations  were  frequent.  The  "  Ordinances 
of  Justice "  were  passed,  which,  for  severity  and  injustice 


64  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

against  the  hitherto  ruling  classes,  have  no  equal  in  history. 
New  factions  appeared  at  the  commencement  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  known  as  the  Whites  and  the  Blacks.  Later, 
murder  was  so  common  that  Florence  was  in  the  way  of 
entirely  losing  her  citizenship,  and,  therefore,  in  order  to 
restore  peace  to  the  embroiled  and  blood-stained  city, 
asked  for  foreign  intervention.  In  1343,  De  Brienne,  an 
unscrupulous  despot,  seized  the  reins  of  government.  Next 
followed  the  democratic  Board  of  Magistrates  of  the  Guelph 
party,  which  proved  to  be  not  less  tyrannical  than  the  No- 
bility, the  Citizen  party,  or  the  despot  De  Brienne. 

"  So  great  was  the  dread  and  terror  which  had  fallen  on 
the  citizens,"  says  Ammirato,  "  that  no  tyrant  immediately 
after  the  discovery  of  a  conspiracy,  was  so  formidable  to 
his  subjects  as  the  magistracy  of  the  Guelph  party  had  be- 
come to  its  fellow-citizens.  Wherever  they  passed  in  the 
city  the  people  might  be  seen  to  rise  from  their  seats  and 
bow  and  cringe  before  them,  just  as  is  practised  before  abso- 
lute sovereigns  and  despots  by  their  subjects.  To  speak  ill 
of  any  member  of  that  board  of  magistrates  was  a  flir  more 
dangerous  thing  than  to  blaspheme  the  holy  name  of  God 
and  his  saints.  The  citizens  sought  to  make  alliance  by 
marriage  with  them,  even  though  such  alliances  might  be 
otherwise  most  disadvantageous.  The  shopkeepers  readily 
gave  them  their  goods  on  credit,  and  then  did  not  dare  to 
ask  for  payment  for  them.  And  to  this  end  they  had  people 
adapted  to  the  working  of  their  tyranny,  whose  business  it 
was  to  run  up  and  down  the  city,  and  threaten  prosecu- 
tions or  promise  favors  according  to  the  requirements  of 
the  case  in  hand." 

In  1378  there  was  a  general  revolt,  the  government  was 


n.]  LOMBARD  COMMUNES.  65 

overthrown,  and  the  lowest  elements  in  society  came  to  the 
surface.  The  mob  gave  to  Michele  di  Lando,  a  wool- 
comber,  absolute  conti'ol  of  the  city,  and  declared  him  Lord 
of  Florence.  But  subsequently,  because  he  would  not  sanc- 
tion all  their  unjust  and  merciless  demands,  the  mob  turned 
against  him  and  undertook,  in  a  public  square,  to  enact 
regulations  to  suit  their  revolutionary  purposes. 

It  is  dangerous  for  a  democratic  mob  to  get  the  taste 
of  power;  it  is  like  letting  a  hungiy  tiger  lick  blood. 
This  mob  passed  the  most  exacting  and  communistic 
laws  imaginable.  Respectable  citizens  were  terror-struck. 
Their  only  safety  consisted  in  standing  aloof  and  in  sur- 
rendering public  affairs  entirely  into  the  hands  of  the  rev- 
olutionists. 

Fortunately  for  the  safety  of  the  state,  the  Medici  soon 
overthrew  this  rude  republic  and  seized  the  government.28 
By  weeding  out  their  enemies,  through  the  adoption,  when 
necessary,  of  harsh  and  even  cruel  measures,  they  ruled 
Florence  as  autocrats,  but,  under  the  circumstances,  ruled 
it  well.  Pietro  Medici  was  expelled  (1498),  and  Savonarola 
established  a  kind  of  democratic  theocracy,  but  was  shortly 
after  crucified  as  a  heretic  by  Pope  Alexander.  The  com- 
monwealth subsequently  passed  through  a  varying  fortune 
until  the  reconciliation  of  Pope  Clement  to  the  Emperor 
Charles.  It  was  thereupon  agi'eed  that  Florence  should 
become  a  dukedom.  The  Florentines  made  a  brief  though 
gallant  struggle  to  maintain  their  liberties;  but  the  day 
had  passed.  Unfortunately  Florence  had  no  citizen  sol- 
diery .29  Her  conquests  abroad  were  not  through  Florentine 
valor,  but  by  mercenary  troops.  The  nobility  and  trades- 
men had  come  to  look  with  contempt  upon  the  militaiy 
5 


66  '^       FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

profession.  The  rich  plebeian  was  busy  in  his  storehouse, 
devoted  to  money-getting  and  hixury ;  enter  the  ranks  he 
would  not  while  money  could  hire  a  substitute.  But  a 
mercenary  soldiery  can  never  take  the  place  of  a  nation's 
militia.  Thus  Florence  was  helpless ;  when  the  Pope  and 
the  emperor  so  determined,  the  commonwealth  became  a 
dukedom,  with  Alessandro  de  Medici  for  its  ruler.  Ales- 
sandro  was  killed  in  1539,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son. 
After  the  death  of  this  last  duke  of  the  Medicean  family, 
the  government  of  Tuscany,  with  Florence,  its  capital,  fell 
to  Francis,  Duke  of  Lorraine,  later,  Emperor  of  Germany. 
His  descendants  were  expelled  by  the  French  in  1799.  In 
1801  Tuscany,  under  Louis  of  Parma,  became  a  part  of  the 
kingdom  of  Etruria.  In  1808  it  was  ruled  by  France.  In 
1814  the  Grand-duke  Ferdinand  III.  acquired  possession; 
but  in  1859  his  son,  Ferdinand  IV.,  abdicated,  and  in  May 
22,  1860,  Tuscany  was  incorporated  into  the  kingdom  of 
Italy,  and  Florence  was  the  caj^ital  of  the  kingdom  until 
1871,  when  this  dignity  was  conferred  upon  Rome. 

II.  Genoa.  —  In  a  small  bay  of  the  Gulf  of  Genoa,  at  the 
foot  of  the  Ligurian  Apennines,  is  a  city  which  has  experi- 
enced more  political  revolutions,  perhaps,  than  any  other 
in  Europe.  At  the  beginning  of  the  second  Punic  war 
(218  B.  c.)  it  is  mentioned  by  Livy  as  a  town  having  friendly 
relations  with  Rome.  During  the  sixth  century  it  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Lombards,  and  later  passed  under  the 
sway  of  Charlemagne.  During  the  tenth  century,  Genoa 
freed  herself  from  the  Frank  counts  imposed  by  Charle- 
magne, and  established  a  free  constitution.  During  the 
eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,   the  republic  rapidly  in- 


II.]  GENOA 


creased  in  power  and  wealth.  The  Genoese  merchants, 
termed  "the  superb  merchant-princes,"  were  formidable 
iij)on  all  seas ;  they  sup^jlicd  the  markets  of  Constantinople, 
conquered  the  riglit  to  trade  on  the  shores  of  the  Caspian, 
dealt  largely  in  the  costly  merchandise  of  India,  and  pushed 
their  commerce  far  into  other  parts  of  Asia.  The  conquests 
of  the  republic,  considering  its  size,  are  certainly  remark- 
able. City  after  city  fell  under  her  sway  —  Corsica,  Mi- 
norca Capraja,  Almeria,  Tartosa,  Marseilles,  Nice,  Pisa,  and 
Venice  after  the  battle  of  Curzola.  She  made  settlements 
along  the  coast  of  the  Holy  Land ;  studded  the  shores  of 
the  Euxine  with  a  chain  of  forts,  factories,  and  colonies, 
and  in  1240  became  dictator  of  the  throne  of  Constantinople. 
Except  for  internal  dissensions,  it  is  difficult  to  tell  where 
her  conquests  would  have  ended. 

The  Genoese  during  their  ascendency  were  bold,  ener- 
getic, shrewd,  frugal,  and  industrious.  The  city  meanwhile 
grew  in  opulence  and  splendor,  receiving  the  title  "La 
Superba."  When  viewed  from  the  sea,  Genoa  had  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  comjDact  mass,  resembling  an  immense  mar- 
ble amphitheatre. 

The  constitution  of  the  state  at  the  start  leaned  towards 
an  aristocracy.  Then  followed  tliat  bane  of  republics  — 
the  bitter  antagonisms  between  conservatism  and  democ- 
racy. The  democracy  gi-adually  came  into  power,  and 
the  state  was  in  tumult.  The  rule  of  the  podesta  suc- 
ceeded, lasting,  with  some  interruptions,  from  1190  to  1270. 
Spinola  and  Dona,  two  distinguished  citizens,  calling  them- 
selves "  captains  of  liberty,"  next  usurped  the  government, 
holding  it  until  1291.  They  were  followed  by  the  "foreign 
cai)tains ; "   they  in  turn  by  tlie  Coimcil  of  Twenty-Four, 


68  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

the  members  of  which  were  taken  equally  from  the  nobles 
and  plebeians.  These  changes  of  government  resulted  in  bit- 
ter feuds,  political  corruptions  and  persecutions.  The  democ- 
racy, when  in  power,  were  far  more  relentless  and  cruel 
than  the  conservatives.  So  fearful  were  these  hostilities 
that  the  city  with  its  outlying  ten'itory  was  left  almost 
desolate.  Tired  of  discord,  ready  for  any  change  of  gov- 
ernment which  might  render  property  and  person  safe, 
the  mass  of  the  citizens,  in  a  convention  in  1339,  elected 
for  life  a  magistrate,  termed  a  doge,  and  excluded  by  law 
all  the  nobles  from  ever  filling  that  office.  Two  centuries 
later,  under  the  leadership  of  Andrew  Doria,  a  more  liberal 
policy  was  adopted.  But  persecutions,  conspiracies,  an  un- 
settled government,  protracted  wars  with  Pisa  and  Venice, 
and  the  plague  of  1656,  had  so  weakened  the  power  of 
Genoa  that  she  first  yielded  to  Austria,  then  to  Bonaparte. 
He  gave  her  the  title  of  Ligurian  Republic.  But  in  1802 
Bonaparte  united  both  city  and  province  to  the  empire  of 
France.  By  the  congress  of  Vienna,  Genoa  became,  and 
remains,  a  tributary  city  of  the  Sardinian  monarchy. 

HI.  Venice.  —  Upon  the  shores  of  the  Adriatic,  between 
the  mouth  of  the  Plane  on  the  north,  and  the  Adige  on 
the  south,  is  a  group  of  fifteen  small  islands,  formed  by 
alluvial  deposits,  which  were  originally  marshy,  and  unin- 
habited except  by  a  few  fishermen.  In  452  a.  d.,  Attila 
with  his  horde  of  Huns  swept  over  northern  Italy,  leaving 
city  and  town  ruined  and  desolate.  A  few  fiimilies  of  cul- 
ture and  wealth  sought  upon  these  bleak  and  barren  islands 
a  refuge  from  the  Hun  devastations.  They  commenced 
in   the  humblest  way,  but  laid  the  foundation  "  of  proud 


PART  II.]  VENICE.  69 

and  powerful  Venice."  In  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century 
Venice  had  an  independent  government,  her  rulers  being 
called  "  maritime  tribunes."  In  697  the  Venetians,  owing 
to  increasing  and  threatening  rivalries  between  the  differ- 
ent islands,  wisely  formed  a  federal  union,  and  chose  a 
chief  magistrate,  called  Doge.  Until  755  the  authority  of 
the  doge  was  well-nigh  imperial.  At  the  usurpation  of  Do- 
menigo  Osseolo  (1033)  the  people  were  thoroughly  aroused, 
democratic  sentiments  prevailed,  and  the  national  assembly 
abolished  hereditary  succession.  Venice  meanwhile  was 
growing  immensely  rich  and  influential ;  she  was  queen  of 
Mediterranean  commerce,  and  ruled  over  extensive  colonial 
domains.  The  Venetians  have  been  called,  with  strict  jus- 
tice, the  Tyrians  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Towards  the  close  of 
the  fourteenth  century  Venetian  argosies  were  upon  every 
sea;  her  merchandise  crowded  every  port  and  was  carried 
far  into  Inner  Asia.  Her  schools  were  celebrated,  her  art 
renowned,  and  she  was  accomplished  in  all  the  refinements 
of  the  age.  In  militaiy  achievements  she  was  equally  con- 
spicuous. Padua,  Verona,  Vicenza,  Barsano,  Belluno,  Bres- 
cia, Bergamo,  Crema,  Cremona,  Rovigo,  and  Treviso,  one 
after  another,  yielded  to  her  dominion.  During  the  season 
of  her  greatest  prosperity,  wealth  and  aristocracy,  for  the 
most  part,  administered  her  public  affairs,  led  her  armies, 
and  commanded  her  navies.  Some  of  the  Venetian  families 
became  famous  throughout  the  civilized  world.  "  The 
common  people,"  says  the  historian,  "were  busy  at  their 
trades  and  their  traffic,  and  were  content  to  leave  the  hon- 
ors and  emoluments  of  office  to  those  whom  God  and 
nature  seemed  to  have  marked  as  their  masters.  The 
lower  class  had  plenty  to  do  and   nothing  to  fear;    their 


70  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

lives  and  their  rights  were  protected,  and  they  enjoyed  the 
guardian  care  of  a  stable  government  —  a  rare  privilege 
in  those  stormy,  tmnultnous  times.  Universal  suffrage 
still  existed.  Although  the  pojjulation  had  increased  to 
about  sixty-five  thousand,  the  national  assembly  was  yet 
the  great  legislature  of  the  republic.  At  fixed  periods  the 
three  estates  of  the  commonwealth,  the  Upper,  Middle,  and 
Lower,  were  convoked  in  the  church  of  St.  Mark  in  the 
capital,  or  of  St.  Peter  at  Castello,  to  deliberate  upon  public 
affairs,  and  in  the  national  assembly  the  plebeian  was  the 
equal  of  the  proudest  patrician." 

But  so6n  after  the  so-termed  popular  triumphs  of  1033, 
the  strife  between  the  aristocracy  and  the  commonalty  be- 
came determined  and  bitter.  The  democracy,  not  satisfied 
with  what  had  been  gained  and  enjoj^ed,  clamored  at  every 
step  for  more.  The  nobility,  on  the  other  hand,  were  con- 
stantly plotting  against  the  democracy  and  seeking  in  va- 
rious ways  to  restrict  popular  representation  and  appro- 
priate to  themselves  even  ducal  prerogatives.  During 
nearly  a  hundred  years  the  republic  was  womed  with  these 
political  turmoils.  The  panic  following  the  murder  of  the 
Doge  Vitali  Michieli  II.  (1172)  witnessed  a  decided  gain 
for  the  nobility.  The  government  became  essentially  a 
patrician  oligarcliy  with  constantly  increasing  power.  The 
doge,  tliough  elected  by  popular  vote,  was  trammelled  until 
he  became  a  "helpless  puppet  in  the  liands  of  the  nobility." 
The  government  was  vested  in  the  Great  Council,  M^hich 
was  exclusive  and  thorouglily  aristocratic.  In  1298  the 
Great  Council,  while  "  packed,"  abolislied,  by  a  decisive 
vote,  popular  elections.  This  was  going  too  far  with  a 
people  who  had  enjoyed  something  of  civil  rights.    These 


II.]  VENICE.  71 

measures  met  with  a  fierce  resistance,  resulting  in  a  reign 
of  terror,  the  deatli-struggle  between  the  two  contending 
parties.  To  maintain  their  authority,  the  nobility  first 
ordered  the  murder  or  banishment  of  the  leading  malcon- 
tents, and  then  still  further  centralized  the  administration 
of  aftairs.  The  Great  Council  yielded  in  legislative  and 
executive  power  to  the  *'  Council  of  Fifteen."  In  1310  a 
"Committee  of  Ten"  was  instituted.  In  1454  a  select 
"Committee  of  Three,"  called  "Inquisitors  of  State,"  was 
ordered.  The  tyranny  of  the  Inquisitors  of  State  was  ap- 
palling. Patricians  and  noblemen  were  arrested,  thrown 
into  the  ivells  and  the  leads,  were  strangled  or  disowned. 30  In 
1555  Roman  Catholicism  was  in  the  politics  of  Venice,  as 
in  other  Italian  republics,  a  disturbing  factor.  The  Inqui- 
sition, thenceforth  religious  as  well  as  political,  became,  as 
was  said,  "a  rod  full  of  eyes." 

Expensive  wars  with  sister  republics,  the  tumults  of  an 
unscrupulous  democracy,  the  selfish  legislation  of  a  proud 
oligarchy  whose  measures  were  carried  out  by  means  of  po- 
litical and  religious  inquisitions,  had  been  for  years  slowly 
but  surely  undermining  patriotism  in  the  hearts  of  the 
Venetians.  Through  increase  of  wealth,  indulgence  in  idle 
and  extravagant  pleasures,  and*  lack  of  patriotism,  the 
militaiy  spirit  of  the  nobility  so  far  declined  that  it  was  no 
longer  regarded  an  honorable  occupation  to  bear  arms. 
The  commoners,  including  the  business  men,  the  mechanics, 
and  the  artisans,  —  the  best  citizens  left,  —  had  sufl'ered  so 
much  from  the  arrogant  and  exclusive  government  of  the 
oligarchy,  that  they  had  not  sufficient  patriotism  left  to 
enlist  or  fight  for  the  republic.  Indeed,  these  classes  were 
seditious.      "The    most  dangerous   enemy  is    inside   our 


72  FATE  OF  llEPUBLICS.  [part 

walls,"  said  the  councillors  to  the  doge  upon  the  very  day 
of  her  overthrow.  This  destitution  of  a  citizen  soldiery 
brought  the  republic  into  a  critical  and  powerless  position 
whenever  threatened  by  foreign  foes.  The  mercenary 
troops  employed  for  her  defence  were  ignorant  of  Venetian 
laws  and  language,  and  could  be  very  easily  seduced  into 
infidelity  to  the  state.  Such  an  army  is  a  continuous 
and  exhaustive  drain  upon  the  public  treasury,  while 
it  affords  but  the  feeblest  protection  to  the  national  do- 
mains. In  1645  Venice  lost  so  heavily  in  war  that  the 
oligarchy  proposed  to  receive  wealthy  commoners  into  the 
Great  Council  upon  the  payment  of  sixty  thousand  ducats. 
Two  hundred  and  sixty-four  years  prior  to  this  (1381), 
thirty  plebeians  were  elected  nobles  as  a  reward  of  their 
bravery  and  patriotism.  Now  these  honors  were  bought 
and  sold  like  common  merchandise.  Angelo  Michieli,  an 
eminent  senator,  protested.  "  You  change,"  he  exclaimed, 
"  the  very  nature  of  this  government,  in  placing  the  patri- 
ciate at  auction.  Is  it  to  cure  an  evil  that  you  corrupt 
the  body  politic?  How  can  you  expect  that  the  people  will 
respect  authority  in  the  hands  of  tliose  whom  but  recently 
they  had  for  companions  of  their  labors  —  perhaps  of  their 
vices?  You  need  money!'  Then  sell  your  sons,  but  do  not 
sell  the  nobility."  His  protests  were  unavailing.  The  re- 
public was  dead. 

By  this  sale  of  political  and  national  honors  the  common- 
alty who  were  not  rich  enough  to  purchase  position  were 
angered,  then  emboldened,  and  at  length  dared  assert  their 
political  rights.  The  oligarchy,  conscious  of  its  weakness, 
yielded  entirely  to  the  popular  will  at  the  election  of  1674. 
There  was  a  varying  fortune  for  the  republic  during  the 


II.]  AMALFI.  73 

next  hundred  years.  In  1797  Napoleon  Bonaparte  threat- 
ened, and  Venice,  the  oldest  republic  of  the  world  —  hav- 
ing from  first  to  last  maintained  her  national  credit  and 
her  commercial  supremacy,  and  having  in  former  times 
repulsed  Pepin,  humbled  Barbarossa,  and  held  out  against 
combined  Europe  —  submitted  without  a  struggle,  and  al- 
most without  a  protest. 

The  remainder  of  the  story  of  Venice  is  briefly  told. 
From  the  treaty  of  Campo  Formio  (1797)  to  1848  was  a  suc- 
cession of  secret  conspiracies  or  open  attempts  at  rebellion 
against  Austrian  domination.  In  1848  a  revolution  broke 
out  which  was  successful  foi'  a  time,  but  in  spite  of 
heroic  efforts  the  city  fell  again  into  the  hands  of  her 
northern  lord.  In  1866,  as  a  consequence  of  the  Austro- 
Prussian  war,  Venice  and  the  Venetian  provinces  became 
a  part  of  the  united  kingdom  of  Italy,  "and  in  the  autumn 
of  that  year  the  city  welcomed  her  new  sovereign  with 
magnificent  demonstrations  of  joy."  ^' 

IV.  Amalfi. — In  passing  from  northern  to  southern  Italy 
will  be  found  a  city  situated  seven  miles  west  of  Salermo, 
and  thirty  south  of  Naples,  bearing  the  name  Amalfi.  In 
the  ninth  centuiy  it  contained  fifty  thousand  inhabitants, 
and  later  was  the  capital  of  a  flourishing  republic.  Gib- 
bon is,  perhaps,  extravagant  in  his  estimates  when  stating 
that  Amalfi  precetled  Venice  in  reopening  intercourse  with 
the  Levant.  Still,  all  historians  agi-ee  that  at  a  veiy  early 
date  she  entered  upon  a  maritime  career  with  singular 
energy  and  success,  and  that  her  mariners  excelled  in  the 
theory  and  practice  of  navigation  and  astronomy.  Her 
merchants  traded  extensively  with  Africa,  Arabia,  and  the 


74  FATE  OF  EEPUBLICS.  [part 

East;  her  settlements  in  Constantinople,  Antioch,  Jerusa- 
lem, and  Alexandria  acquired  the  privileges  of  independent 
colonies.  The  description  of  Amalfi  by  William,  the  Apu- 
lian,  is  frequently  quoted  by  historians : 

**  Nulla  magis  locuples  argento,  vestibus,  auro 
Partibus  innumeris  :  liac  plurimus  urbe  moratur. 
Nauta  maris  ccelique  vias  aperire  peritus. 
Hue  et  Alexandri  diversa  feruntur  ab  urbe 
Regis,  et  Antiochi.     Gens  haec  freta  plurima  transit. 
His  Arabes,  Indi,  Siculi  nascuntur  et  Afri. 
Haec  gens  est  totum  prope  nobilitata  per  orbem, 
Et  mercando  ferens,  et  araans  mereata  I'eferre." 

After  three  hundred  years  of  prosperity,  Amalfi  was  op- 
pressed by  the  arms  of  the  Normans,  and  subsequently 
sacked  by  the  jealousy  of  Pisa.  The  remains  of  an  arsenal, 
a  cathedral,  and  the  dilapidated  palaces  of  her  once  royal 
merchants  are  now  the  homes  of  fishermen  "  in  a  very  poor 
line  of  life." 

V.  Free  Cities  of  Germany.  —  During  the  ascend- 
ency and  decline  of  both  the  Roman  republic  and  the  Ro- 
man empire,  north(;rn  Asia,  also  Europe  on  the  north  of 
Asia,  were  inhabited  by  a  rough  and  warlike  people 
called  Barbarians,  or  Scythians.  Coming  in  contact  with 
the  civilization  of  the  countries  under  Roman  sway,  they 
saw  its  advantages,  and  at  length,  through  its  influence, 
greatly  improved  upon  their  savage  mocle  of  life.  After 
the  wreck  of  the  Roman  empire,  these  Barbarians  gradually 
organized  themselves  anew  under  the  sway  of  feudalism. 
Centres  of  manufacturing  interests,  trade,  and  commerce 
sprang  up  and  gi-ew  rapidly,  forming  towns  and  cities. 
The  exactions  of  the  feudal  lords,  as  the  towns  increased 


II.]  FREE  CITIES  OF  GERMAXY.  75 

in  wealth  and  strength,  were  resisted;  the  insurrections 
that  followed  led  to  the  affranchisement  of  the  larger  towns 
and  communities.  From  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury commercial  intercourse  sprang  up  rapidly  between 
these  freed  cities  and  many  countries  of  Europe  and  Asia. 
But  owing  to  tlie  j^lundering  and  piratical  character  of  the 
age,  scarcely  a  merchant  train  or  shij)  was  safe.  Swarms 
of  pirates  closely  watched  the  straits  of  the  Baltic  and  tlie 
moutlis  of  the  Rhine,  the  Elbe,  and  the  Save.  To  protect 
their  commerce  against  lawless  marauders,  these  northern 
cities  formed  what  is  known  as  the  Hanseatic  League,  so 
called  from  the  old  Teuton  word,  liansa,  meaning  an  associ- 
ation or  company.  It  is  difficult  to  fix  a  definite  date  for 
the  commencement  of  this  confederacy ;  it  was  a  growth. 
There  are  traces  of  joint  defensive  action  as  early  as  the 
middle  of  the  twelfth  century.  A  formal  treaty  was  pub- 
lished in  1241.  City  after  city  joined  the  union,  until  it 
embraced  eighty-five,  and  in  power  matched  the  strongest 
governments  of  Europe.  During  the  fourteenth  and  fif- 
teenth centuries  this  confederacy  reached  its  highest  degi-ee 
of  power  and  splendor.  The  people  enjoyed  conveniences 
entirely  unknown  to  their  ancestors,  whom  Rome  had  never 
conquered  nor  for  centuries  impressed  with  her  civilization. 
The  Hanse  confederation  deserves  a  very  higli  rank  among 
the  benefactors  of  mankind.  These  people  resemble  in 
many  respects  the  Phoenicians  of  much  earlier  date.  They 
encouraged  and  cultivated  literature,  science,  and  various 
forms  of  art.  As  but  few  people  before  them  had  done,  they 
stimulated  production,  especially  in  the  four  gi^eat  depart- 
ments —  agi'iculture,  fisheries,  mines,  and  manufactures. 
This  League  "  did  much  to  define  general  principles  of 


76  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [parT 

mercantile  law,  and  to  enlarge  the  scope  and  ennoble  the 
spirit  of  commercial  enterprise,  by  uniting  many  petty, 
narrow  interests  in  a  great  common  cause.  It  served 
greatly  to  increase  the  wealth  of  the  cities  themselves,  and 
to  develop  in  their  populations  taste,  refinement,  and  genius 
for  both  the  practical  and  the  fine  arts.  By  the  stimulus 
which  it  imparted  to  agi-icultural  industry  it  also  waked  a 
spirit  of  enterprise  and  a  love  of  liberty  in  the  breasts  of 
the  oppressed  tillers  of  the  soil,  and  thus  joined  with  other 
influences  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  emancipation  of  the 
serfs.  The.  League  thus  touched  the  springs  of  social  life 
and  activity  universally,  to  the  advantage  of  all  classes. 
In  its  leading  ideas  and  policy,  though  crude  and  only  par- 
tially developed,  we  find  the  germs  of  that  law  of  recipro- 
city and  freedom  which  is  now  so  generally  recognized  as 
the  basis  of  modern  commerce."  32 

The  supreme  authority  of  the  League  was  vested  in  the 
deputies  of  the  different  towns  assembled  in  congress.  In 
it  they  discussed  civil  measures,  decided  upon  the  sum  that 
each  city  should  contribute  to  the  common  fund,  and  deter- 
mined such  other  questions  as  related  to  their  common 
interests.  The  meeting  of  congress  was  most  frequently 
held  at  Liibeck,  which  was  essentially  the  capital  of  the 
League ;  but  sometimes  congresses  Avere  held  at  Hamburg, 
Cologne,  and  other  towns.  Tliey  met  once  every  three 
years ;  oftener  if  occasion  required.  Any  one  might  be 
chosen  for  a  deputy;  and  besides  merchants,  the  congress 
comprised  clergymen,  lawyers,  artists,  and  artisans.  When 
the  deliberations  were  concluded,  the  decrees  were  formally 
communicated    to  the  magistrates   of  the  several   cities; 


II.]  FREE  CITIES  OF  GERMANY.  77 

and  the  most  vigorous  measures  were  in  early  times 
adopted  for  canying  those  decrees  into  effect. 

We  find  in  the  Hanse  confederacy  much  else  which  chal- 
lenges our  admiration.  It  maintained  its  existence  for 
nearly  four  hundred  years.  It  exercised  the  same  dominion 
over  the  Baltic  that  Venice  did  over  the  Adriatic.  It  se- 
cured control  of  almost  the  whole  foreign  commerce  of 
Scandinavia,  Denmark,  Prussia,  Poland,  and  Russia. 

The  kings  of  Denmark,  Sweden,  and  Norway  frequently 
engaged  in  war  with  these  Hansards,  but  were  always 
worsted.  In  1474  the  republic  declared  war  against 
England,  and  Edward  IV.,  to  secure  peace,  wa's  glad  to 
concede  whatever  privileges  they  demanded.  But  after 
having  achieved  these  grand  successes  and  triumphs,  the 
Hansa  declined  almost  as  rapidly  as  it  had  first  arisen. 

The  fundamental  cause  of  this  decline  is  apparent  to 
every  student  of  history  —  the  government  lacked  constitu- 
tional centralization.  The  federal  union  was  to  them  a 
mere  matter  of  convenience.  There  was  no  legal  bond 
that  held  them  together,  or  that  could  jjunish  secession  or 
regard  it  as  treason.  When,  therefore,  these  cities  felt  it 
to  be  for  their  interest  to  withdraAv  from  the  confederacy, 
they  did  so.  Troubles  which  arose  with  England  in  1597  led 
to  the  expenditure  of  large  sums  of  money,  and  the  Hanse 
towns  were  heavily  taxed.  This  led  to  dissatisfaction,  and 
the  maritime  cities  of  the  Baltic  broke  the  federal  com- 
pact and  withdrew.  Other  cities  soon  lost  all  interest  in 
the  union.  In  1630  the  last  general  assembly  was  sum- 
moned at  Liibeck,  but  the  deputies  from  the  remaining 
towns  came  only  to  notify  their  withdrawal.  Shortly  after 
this  the  cities  of  Hamburg,  Liibeck,  and  Bremen  formed  a 


78  FATE  OF  KEPUBLICS.  [part 

new  association  called  the  Free  Hanse  Towns.  Frankfort- 
on-the-Main  was  subsequently  added.  The  four  were  rec- 
ognized as  the  free  cities  of  Germany,  each  exercising 
independent  and  sovereign  jurisdiction  until  1810,  when 
Bonaparte  incorporated  them  into  the  French  empire.  In 
1813  they  became  free  members  of  the  German  confedera- 
tion. In  1866  Frankfort-on-the-Main  fell  to  Prussia.  The 
condition  and  jDrosperity  of  the  cities  Bremen,  Hamburg, 
and  Liibeck,  which  still  retain  their  freedom  and  perpetu- 
ate the  name  of  the  Hanse  Towns,  clearly  demonstrate  that, 
had  there  been  in  the  Hanse  league  a  firm  centralized  fonii 
of  government,  no  foreign  power  in  Europe  or  Asia  could 
have  prevented  the  gi'owth  and  prosperity  of  a  republic 
able  even  to  control  the  destinies  of  Northern  Europe.*^ 

VI.  Iceland.  —  Among  medieval  republics,  Iceland 
must  not  be  overlooked.  In  size  the  island  is  about  the 
same  as  Ireland,  being  not  for  from  two  hundred  by  three 
hundred  miles  in  area.  There  were  settlements  attempted 
by  adventurers  and  i^irates  as  early  as  860  A.  d.  In  874 
Harold  Harfagi-a,  having  subdued  the  petty  princes  of 
Norway,  put  an  end 'to  every  form  of  liberty,  and  ruled  the 
people  of  his  kingdom  with  absolute  despotism.  The  no- 
blest families  would  not  endure  his  tyranny.  They  became 
voluntary  exiles,  and  under  the  leadership  of  Ingolf  sailed 
from  homes  of  comparative  luxuiy  to  the  dreaiy  shores  of 
Iceland.  They  were  followed  by  other  Norwegians,  and 
later  by  Danes  and  Swedes,  and  by  a  few  Scotch  and  Irish. 
In  928  a  republican  form  of  government  was  established, 
at  the  head  of  which  was  a  supreme  magistrate,  elected  to 
office  by  the  free  choice  of  the  people.     He  decided  all 


II.]  ICELAND.  79 

disputes  and  presided  at  the  general  assembly  (the  All- 
thing),  and  held  his  office  as  long  as  he  retained  the  confi- 
dence of  the  people.  This  form  of  government  lasted  with 
uninterrupted  harmony  for  the  space  of  nearly  four  hundred 
years. 

The  luxuries  or  refinements  of  life  were  not  possessed  in 
large  measure  by  the  Icelanders,  though  traffic  with  other 
countries  gave  them  many  domestic  comforts  which  other- 
wise would  have  been  denied  their  island  home.  The  peo- 
ple for  the  most  part  were  farmers,  fishermen,  and  seamen. 
They  were  brave,  j^'^i'G  in  morals,  and  in  a  high  degi-ee 
intellectual.  In  a  short  time  the  country,  attained  a 
measure  of  prosperity  and  developed  a  civilization  which 
in  every  way  fav  surpassed  that  of  the  mother-country. 
Icelandic  enterprise  led  to  the  discovery  and  settlement  of 
Greenland,  and  the  northern  shores  of  America  were  first 
made  known  to  Europe,  in  the  year  1001,  by  a  native  of 
Iceland,  Biono  Ileriolforn.  The  republic  was  not  destitute 
of  scholarship.  Her  tongue  formed  the  foundation  of  three 
Scandinavian  languages.  The  humblest  workman  could 
read  and  write.  "  There  are  Icelandic  poems  so  thoroughly 
imbued  with  the  loftiest  ideas  and  sentiments  of  modern 
civilization,  and  so  thoroughly  impregnated  with  the  ele- 
gance and  brilliancy  of  modern  art,  that  in  reading  them 
nobody  would  believe  that  they  were  written  in  low  huts 
built  of  lava  blocks  and  moss,  and  looking  out  on  the  dreary 
gloom  of  winter  of  nine  months." 

But  this  freedom-loving,  enterprising,  and  scholarly  peo- 
ple, after  maintaining  their  liberties  through  four  centuries, 
became  subjects  of  a  kingdom.  Party  disputes  and  inter- 
nal feuds  worked  the  same  mischiefs  in  Iceland  as  in  other 


80  FATE  OF  EEPUBLICS.  [part  n. 

republics.  The  rich  were  arrayed  against  the  poor,  and  com- 
munities against  communities.  Whole  families  were  massa- 
cred, estates  were  burned  down,  and  every  kind  of  property 
was  devastated.  This  condition  of  things  could  not  last.  The 
republic  was  dead.  Republics  die  when  persons  and  property 
are  not  safe  and  when  civil  rights  are  not  maintained.  The 
national  council,  in  1261,  by  universal  acquiescence,  indeed 
by  universal  desire,  submitted  the  sceptre  of  government  to 
Haco,  king  of  Norway.  Iceland  remained  under  the  do- 
minion of  Norway  for  upwards  of  a  century,  and  in  1380, 
without  tumult  or  opposition,  it  was  transferred  to  Den-' 
mark,  under  whose  rule  it  has  continued  to  the  present 
time. 


CHAPTER   II. 

I.   REPUBLIC    OF    THE    UNITED    PROVINCES.  II.    THE 

FRENCH    REPUBLIC    OF    1792-1804. 

The  Netherlands,  or  Low  Countries,  comprising  the 
entire  plain  stretching  from  the  foot  of  the  Vosges  and 
the  Ardennes  to  the  North  Sea,  and  comprising  the  present 
kingdom  of  the  Netherlands,  Belgium,  and  the  Northern 
parts  of  France,  were  inhabited  in  early  historic  times  by 
Friesic,  Germanic,  and  Gallic  families ;  they  were  a  free- 
dom-loving, brave,  and  warlike  people.  By  accounts  gath- 
ered from  the  writings  of  Caesar  and  Tacitus,  it  appears 
that  these  ancient  tribes  had  maintained  their  independence 
against  the  conquests  of  the  Teutons,  the  Cimbri,  and  other 
nations  who  had  overrun  and  subdivided  the  rest  of  what 
was  then  known  as  Gaul.  In  the  second  century  these 
territories  passed  under  Roman  domination.  Following 
the  decline  of  the  early  Roman  power,  the  Franks  and  the 
Frieslanders  held  these  territories  until  the  seventh  cen- 
tury, when,  under  Charles  Martel,  the  Friesons  were  con- 
quered, and  the  kingdom  of  the  Franks  established. 

After  the  conquests  of  Charlemagne  and  the  introduction 
of  the  feudal  system,  the  powerful  lords  to  whom  the  lands 
were  gi-anted  acquired  by  degi-ees  a  sort  of  sovereignty. 
But  being  "unable  to  maintain  themselves  without  the 
assistance  of  their  under  feudatories,  they  were  compelled, 
6  81 


82  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

in  order  to  secure  their  fidelity,  to  grant  them  advantageous 
conditions  of  tenure.  The  clergy,  too,  by  pious  usurpations 
or  pious  donations,  became  a  powerful  and  independent 
corporate  body.  Thus,  during  the  tenth,  eleventh,  twelfth, 
and  thirteentli  centuries,  tlie  whole  of  Belgium  and  of  Ba- 
tavia  was  split  into  several  small  dominions,  the  princes 
of  which  acknowledged  a  limited  allegiance,  some  of  them 
to  the  German  empire,  and  others  to  the  kings  of  the 
Franks." 

In  1383  the  prince  of  the  powerful  house  of  Burgundy, 
partly  by  intermarriages,  partly  by  force  and  purcliase, 
obtained  supreme  authority  over  the  whole  territory  whicli 
afterwards  became  the  seventeen  provinces  of  the  Nether- 
lands. Under  the  dukes  of  Burgundy  these  provinces  en- 
joyed a  season  of  marked  prosperity.  The  Low  Countries 
were  looked  upon  as  the  workshop  of  Europe.  Agricul- 
ture, trade,  and  commerce  were  remunerative  and  exten- 
sive; schools  of  the  fine  arts  were  established,  and  the 
liberties  of  the  people  were  interfered  with  scarcely  more 
tlian  under  a  republic.  •  -  . 

At  the  death  of  Charles  the  Bold,  the  last  of  the  Burgun- 
dian  dukes,  his  eldest  daughter  Maria  received  (1477)  tliese 
countries  as  her  portion,  and  her  grandson,  afterwards 
Charles  V.,  Emperor  of  Germany,  became  from  the  mo- 
ment of  his  birth  sovereign  of  the  Netherlands  and  king 
of  Spain.  As  a  part  of  a  great  empire,  the  condition  of 
the  provinces  was  largely  changed;  though  still  rich  and 
populous,  they  were  henceforth  looked  upon  as  dependen- 
cies. Steps  were  taken  by  Charles  to  undermine  the  priv- 
ileges wliich,  under  former  rulers,  the  Netherland  states 
had  defended  and  enjoyed.     The  establishment  of  an  im- 


II.]  REPUBLIC  OF  THE  UNITED  PROVINCES.  83 

perial  court  in  part  composed  of  foreigners,  heavy  taxation, 
the  introduction  of  foreign  troops,  and  various  other  viola- 
tions of  the  ancient  constitution  of  the  Netherlands,  were 
extremely  repugnant  to  a  people  hitherto  under  a  wise 
and  paternal  government.  Towards  the  close  of  his  reign, 
after  the  successful  issue  of  his  wars  in  Germany,  Charles 
resolved  to  reduce  the  Netherlands  to  obedience  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  religion.  He  began  with  the  severest 
inquisitional  measures,  but  was  obliged  to  modify  them. 
In  1555  Charles  abdicated,  and  Philip  II.,  his  son,  ascended 
the  throne.  The  new  monarch,  by  his  arrogance,  insin- 
cerity, and  unconstitutional  infringements,  at  first  ag- 
gi'ieved,  then  enraged  his  Netherland  subjects.  His  at- 
tempts to  root  out  Protestantism,  which  had  taken  strong 
hold  upon  the  hearts  of  the  people,  was  one  of  the  princi- 
pal causes  that  brought  on  a  war  lasting  forty  years,  and 
ending  with  the  humiliation  and  almost  the  ruin  of  Spain, 
and  the  establishment  of  the  Netherlands  as  one  of  the  first 
powers  of  Europe. 

It  was  during  this  period  that  certain  names  since  fa- 
mous came  into  notice,  especially  those  of  counts  Egmont 
and  Horn,  and  Prince  William  the  Silent.  William,  in 
devotion  to  his  country,  in  the  wisdom  of  his  measures,  in 
his  courage  and  heroism,  showed  himself  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  men  of  history.  He  was  too  early  and  too  in- 
tensely engaged  in  serious  matters  to  have  leisure  or  dispo- 
sition for  the  frivolous  gossip  or  the  inflated  and  long-winded 
speech-making  of  the  age.  When,  upon  a  certain  occasion, 
the  French  king,  Henry  II.,  told  William  that  there  existed  a 
secret  treaty  between  himself  and  Philip  II.  to  exterminate 
by  fire  and  sword  all  Protestants  within  their  dominions, 


84:  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

though  this  intelligence  must  have  been  to  William  well- 
nigh  astounding,  yet  so  self-poised  was  he  that  the  state- 
ment was  received  as  carelessly  as  it  had  been  given. 
After  these  facts  were  known,  he  was  called  "  The  Silent." 
He  could  easily  talk  in  the  council-chamber  when  there 
was  a  demand  for  advice,  and  could  give  his  counsels  with 
great  force  and  clearness;  yet,  when  there  were  reasons 
for  it,  he  could  remain  as  silent  as  a  mute,  though  all  the 
people  were  demanding  a  speech.  Nevertheless,  under  the 
most  favorable  circumstances,  his  brilliancy  shows  with 
special  conspicuousness,  not  in  speech,  but  upon  the  field 
of  battle. 

This  silent  man,  this  military  chieftain,  who  more  than 
once  had  under  his  command  all  the  armies  of  the  Nether- 
lands, though  often  placed  under  peculiar  temptations, 
never  wavered  in  his  loyalty.  In  1672,  when  the  French 
army  had  advanced  into  the  heart  of  Holland,  Louis  oftered 
to  make  the  prince  sovereign  of  the  remains  of  the  coun- 
try. But  even  in  that  hour  of  extreme  peril,  when  hope 
had  abandoned  nearly  every  heart,  he  answered  with  his 
characteristic  calmness,  "  I  never  will  betray  a  trust,  nor 
sell  the  liberties  of  my  country,  which  my  ancestors  have 
so  long  defended." 

His  confidential  friends  despaired.  One  of  them,  after 
having  long  expostulated  with  William  upon  his  fruitless 
obstinacy,  asked,  "Have  you  considered  how  and  where 
you  will  live  after  Holland  is  lost?  "  "I  have  thought  of 
that,"  he  replied;  "I  am  resolved  to  live  in  the  lands  I 
have  left  in  Germany.  I  had  rather  pass  my  life  in  hunt- 
ing there,  than  sell  my  country  or  my  liberty  to  France  at 
any  price."     Buckingham  and  Arlington  were  sent  from 


n.]  REPUBLIC  OF  THE  UNITED  PROVINCES.  85 

England  to  try  whether,  beset  by  peril,  the  lure  of  sover- 
eignty might  not  seduce  him.  The  former  said  to  him, 
"Do  you  not  see  that  the  country  is  lost?  "  The  answer  of 
the  prince  bespoke  the  same  firm  resolution  with  that 
which  he  had  made  to  Zulestein :  "I  see  it  is  in  great  dan- 
ger; but  there  is  a  sure  way  of  never  seeing  it  lost,  and 
that  is,  to  die  in  the  last  ditch."  "The  perfect  simplicity 
of  these  declarations,"  as  Mackintosh  remarks,  "  may  au- 
thorize us  to  rank  them  among  the  most  genuine  speci- 
mens of  true  magnanimity.  Perhaps  the  history  of  the 
world  does  not  hold  out  a  better  example.  How  high 
above  the  reach  of  fortune  the  pure  principle  of  obedience 
to  the  dictates  of  conscience,  unalloyed  by  interest,  pas- 
sion, or  ostentation,  can  raise  the  mind  of  a  virtuous  man ! 
To  set  such  an  example  is  an  unspeakably  more  signal 
service  to  mankind  than  all  the  outward  benefits  which 
flow  to  them  from  the  most  successful  virtue.  It  is  a 
principle  independent  of  events,  and  one  that  burns  most 
brightly  in  adversity,  the  only  agent,  perhaps,  of  suflicient 
power  to  call  forth  the  native  greatness  of  the  soul  which 
lay  hid  under  the  cold  and  unattractive  deportment  of  the 
Prince  of  Orange."  3^ 

This  noble  prince,  ever  earnest,  dignified,  patriotic,  taci- 
turn, yet  simple  and  magnanimous,  hj  his  courage,  by  his 
unyielding  persistency,  by  his  diplomatic  wisdom,  aided 
seemingly  by  providential  interpositions,  worried  out  and 
repelled  the  combined  armies  of  Spain,  France,  and  Eng- 
land. How  much  the  subsequent  glory  of  the  republic  is 
due  to  the  influence  of  such  a  leader  cannot  easily  be  es- 
timated. 

In  1607  Spain  agreed  to  a  suspension  of  hostilities  for 


86  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

eight  months.  Another  truce  for  twelve  years  was  agreed 
upon,  1609,  and  by  the  peace  of  Westphalia,  1648,  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  Republic  of  the  United  Provinces  was  ac- 
knowledged by  the  great  powers  of  Europe.  At  the  dawn 
of  her  independence,  her  citizens  had  wealth,  enterprise, 
educational  advantages,  and  the  military  spirit.  Her  entire 
population  cajmble  of  bearing  arms  was  an  organized  army. 
Her  struggles  for  liberty  had  made  her  patriotic  and 
mighty.  Her  achievements  in  science  and  art,  especially 
in  painting,  had  gained  the  admiration  of  the  world.  Her 
material  prosperity  for  upwards  of  a  hundred  years  has  been 
rarely  equalled.  She  was  almost  absolute  master  of  the 
seas,  and  held  in  her  hands  the  commerce  of  the  world.  She 
perfectly  controlled  the  Baltic ;  she  crushed  the  Spaniards ; 
she  acquired  possessions  in  America  and  in  the  East  Indies ; 
she  checked  the  Portuguese ;  she  resisted  the  arrogance  of 
Louis  XIV.,  and  more  than  once  made  the  English  nation 
tremble.  After  the  battle  of  Goodwin  Sands,  the  admiral 
Van  Tromp  tied  a  broom  at  his  mast-head  while  sailing 
along  the  British  coast,  as  a  token  that  he  had  swept  the 
Channel  of  all  opposers.  Fifteen  years  later,  De  Ruyter 
sailed  up  the  Thames  and  blockaded  the  port  of  London. 
Historians  generally  agree  that  the  victories  of  Holland  in 
1672  were  among  the  most  signal  triumphs  of  a  free  people 
over  invaders,  since  the  defeat  of  Xerxes. 

Such  were  the  Netherlands  in  times  of  their  prosperity. 
Why  are  there  two  kingdoms  to-day  where  once  stood  this 
great  and  flourishing  republic? 

Beginning  with  the  dawn  of  the  republic,  there  were 
found  in  it  a  number  of  men  having  great  wealth.     After 


II.]  REPUBLIC  OF  THE  UNITED  PROVINCES.  87 

the  declaration  of  peace,  these  rich  men  were  enabled  to 
add  to  their  fortunes  with  great  rapidity.  To  accumulate 
an  immense  fortune,  if  We  has  ordinary  ability,  prudence, 
and  a  competency  to  start  with,  is  not  difficult.  All  things 
human  conspire  to  establish  the  observation,  that  "  AYhoso- 
ever  hath,  to  him  shall  be  given ;  and  whosoever  hath  not, 
from  him  shall  be  taken  even  that  which  he  seemeth,  to 
have."  As  in  other  republics,  so  in  the  Netherlands,  the 
rich  grew  richer  but  the  poor  poorer,  and  after  a  time  the 
poor  bitterly  hated  and  in  various  ways  worked  against  the 
interests  of  those  who  were  known  as  capitalists  and  bond- 
holders. Why  should  one  man  have  so  much  more  than 
another?  was  the  question  often  asked,  and  whenever  asked 
there  was  roused  anew  on  part  of  the  poor  the  spirit  of 
jealousy  and  discontent. 

The  great  wealth  of  a  comparatively  few  citizens,  and 
the  gi'eat  poverty  of  the  governments  of  the  several  states, 
resulting  in  the  funding  system  since  followed  by  other 
nations,  Was  likewise  a  constant  source  of  trouble  and 
dispute. 

Aside  from  this  class  of  evils,  there  were  others  gi'owing 
out  of  political  and  religious  jealousies  and  hatreds,  that 
kept  the  republic,  for  much  of  the  time,  in  high  ferment. 
The  two  leading  political  parties  were  made  up  of  those 
on  the  one  hand  inclining  to  monarchy,  who  constantly 
sought  to  raise  the  stadtholder  into  a  constitutional  and 
hereditaiy  royalty,  and  those  on  the  other  hand  who  were 
ever  striving  for  a  constitution  which  should  be  purely 
democratic. 

In  1677  the  power  of  the  ruling  stadtholder  had  become 
almost    supreme,    opposition    was     silenced    and    seemed 


88  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

crushed.  But  though  silenced,  an  opposition  in  govern- 
ments always  exists.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  peace  of 
1783,  the  so-termed  "patriots"  grew  extremely  clamorous 
and  threatening.  The  leaders  were  not  contented  with 
proposing  reasonable  changes  and  measures;  they  were 
brutal.  They  grossly  insulted  the  ruling  family ;  the  mon- 
arch of  Prussia,  a  kinsman,  demanded  satisfaction.  The 
clamorous  boasters  refused,  but  all  their  boasting  stood  for 
nothing  when,  a  little  later,  the  monarch  of  Prussia 
marched  his  array  into  Holland.  In  1794  the  French  re- 
publican flag  was  displayed  upon  the  frontier;  the  dem- 
ocrats became  active,  aggressive,  and  menacing.  The 
Orange  family  fled;  a  new  constitution  was  formed,  and 
the  Batavian  democratic  republic  was  established. 

But  it  resulted  that  the  measures  which  had  sown  these 
seeds  of  dissension  were  to  reap  for  the  state  a  crop  of  bit- 
terness. The  French  exacted  a  part  of  the  Batavian  tem- 
tory.  An  immediate  demand  was  also  enforced  for  the 
payment  of  ten  millions  sterling.  It  was  further  ordered 
that  the  army  of  France  should  be  paid,  fed,  and  clothed 
at  the  expense  of  this  new  republic.  Under  this  state  of 
things,  one  part  of  the  Batavian  navy  was  given  up  to  the 
British  by  the  dissatisfied  seamen,  and  another  part  was 
defeated.  The  colonies  of  the  republic  one  after  another 
surrendered  or  were  taken  by  France.  The  commerce  of 
the  state  was  confined  to  mere  coasting,  and,  though  the 
bank  of  Amstei'dam  was  nearly  shattered,  not  a  fraction 
of  the  pecuniaiy  demands  of  France  was  abated. 

After  twenty  years  of  gi-eat  distress,  most  of  the  time 
under  the  military  yoke  of  France,  the  people,  tired  and 
disheartened,  demanded,  with  scarcely  a  dissenting  voice, 


II.]  THE  FRENCH  REPUBLIC.  89 

that  William  I.  should  be  the  sovereign  prince  of  the  land. 
The  Republic  of  the  United  Netherlands  is,  therefore, 
another  illustration  of  the  historic  fact  so  often  noticed, 
that  while  a  pure  democracy,  with  unlimited  franchise, 
may  be  the  ideal  government  for  a  people  who  are  wise, 
moral,  and  religious,  yet,  in  the  hands  of  a  degenerate, 
selfish,  and  brutal  people,  a  pure  democracy  is  nothing  but 
a  mad  delusion. 

In  1830  the  Romanists,  constantly  watchful,  aggressive, 
and  ever  a  disturbing  factor  in  national  politics,  sought  and 
accomplished  the  secession  of  the  southern  provinces,  and 
the  separate  kingdom  of  Belgium  was  erected.  To-day 
two  kingdoms,  one  Roman  Catholic,  the  other  fast  becom- 
ing such,  stand  upon  the  ruins  of  that  once  flourishing 
Protestant  republic  of  the  United  Netherlands. 

As  these  historic  republics  are  seen  one  after  another  to 
rise,  flourish,  and  decline,  do  they  not  appear  to  strike  the 
knell  of  all  existing  and  future  republics  .^^ 

II.  The  French  Republic  of  1792-1804.  —  The  ancient 
inhabitants  of  France  were  subdued  by  Caesar  half  a 
century  before  the  Christian  era,  and  became  in  speech  and 
customs  quite  thoroughly  Romanized.  In  the  fifth  century, 
Rome  being  too  weak  to  defend  her  provinces,  a  Gothic- 
German  tribe,  called  Franks  (freemen),  conquered  the 
country,  and  gave  it  its  present  name.  A  rude  kingdom 
was  organized  under  Clovis,  who  has  been  termed  "  a  dar- 
ing and  fortunate  rufiian."  There  was  very  little  order  in 
the  kingdom  until  the  reign  of  Charlemagne  (768-814). 
The  death  of  this  great  emperor  was  followed  by  another 
season  of  French  disorder  and  of  disorganization. 


90  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

A  powerful  national  feeling  showed  itself  under  Louis 
VI.  (1108-1137).  In  1589-1643,  the  Bourbon  dynasty, 
under  Heniy  IV.  and  Louis  XIII.,  was  supreme.  Every 
student  of  history  is  impressed  with  the  solemnity  and  ex- 
altation of  royal  power  as  witnessed  in  France,  especially 
during  the  later  part  of  that  period.  There  followed  the 
brilliant  era  of  the  monarchy,  when  France  was  able  to 
dictate  to  the  world  fashion  and  taste  in  both  social  cus- 
toms and  literature.  Under  Louis  XIV.  (1643-1715),  ex- 
travagance imposed  such  an  enormous  debt  upon  France 
that  the  countiy  was  well-nigh  exhausted,  and  the  court 
was  completely  demoralized.  Roman  Catholicism  availed 
itself  of  this  condition,  becoming  aggressive  and  intolerant. 
The  peoj^le,  groaning  under  both  civil  and  religious  op- 
pression, thought  not  of  reform  but  of  revolution.  Under 
Louis  XV.  and  XVI.  (1715-93),  affairs  rapidly  culminated 
and  the  crisis  came.  A  class  of  men  represented  by  Vol- 
taire, Rousseau,  D'Alembert,  Montesquieu,  and  Diderot, 
with  matchless  eloquence  and  irresistible  wit,  exposed  the 
follies  and  the  abuses  of  the  royal  government.  The 
starving  people  were  told  that  the  oppressive  monarchy 
,was  plotting  to  steal  their  very  food  and  was  the  cause 
of  all  their  troubles.  They  were  urged  to  resist;  they 
obeyed. 

September  25,  1792,  under  the  leadership  of  the  victo- 
rious revolutionists,  the  Jacobins,  France  was  declared  a 
republic.  Tlien  came  the  despotism  of  a  democratic  mob. 
united  with  the  despotism  of  a  democratic  dictatorship. 
All  were  permitted  to  taste  blood;  all  were  infuriated. 
Posterity  finds  it  difficult  to  realize  what  passed  in  France 
during  those  few  years,  seemingly  centuries  long,  which 


II.]  THE  FEENCH  REPUBLIC.  91 

followed. 35  The  ordinary  death-agencies  could  not  be 
worked  with  sufficient  rapidity,  and  resort  was  had  to 
companies  of  armed  assassins,  mitraillades,  and  scuttle- 
boats;  though  Prudhomme,  whose  connection  with  the 
dominant  party  would  lead  him  not  to  overestimate,  says 
tliat  upwards  of  a  million  persons  perished  by  the  guillo- 
tine alone.  * 

The  revolutionists,  more  properl}^  the  terrorists,  were  so 
completely  united  that  they  seem  to  have  had  but  one  body 
and  one  soul,  in  which  all  feelings  and  desires  had  united 
in  an  insatiable  desire  for  blood.  "The  more  the  social 
body  perspires,  the  sounder  it  becomes,"  said  Callot  dTIer- 
bois.  "It  is  the  dead  only  who  never  return,"  said 
Barriere.  "The  vessel  of  the  revolution  can  only  arrive 
in  port  on  a  sea  reddened  with  torrents  of  blood,"  said 
St.  Just.  "A  nation  is  only  regenerated  on  heaps  of  dead 
bodies,"  rejoined  Robespierre.  Nor  were  their  actions  at 
variance  with  the  creed  they  professed.  For  months  to- 
gether these  theories  were  daily  carried  into  practice  in 
every  town  in  France.  "  Alone  and  unopposed,  the  Com- 
mittee of  Public  Safety  struck  numberless  blows  from  one 
end  of  the  kingdom  to  the  other." 

As  might  be  expected,  terror  rose  to  its  greatest  height, 
and  death  stood  at  eveiy  door.  "The  air,"  said  Fouche, 
"  is  full  of  poniards."  Despair  of  life  produced  its  usual 
diversified  effects  upon  the  minds  of  the  horrified.  "  Some 
sank  into  sullen  indifference ;  others  indulged  in  immoder- 
ate gaiety ;  many  became  frantic  with  hon'or ;  not  a  few 
sought  to  amuse  life  even  at  the  foot  of  the  scaffold.  Rising 
in  one  wild  and  heart-rending  chorus  might  be  heard  rav- 
ing, blasphemy,   lamentation,  commingled  with  the  loud 


92  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

shouts  of  obstreperous  laughter;  in  short,  all  the  varied 
sounds  which  intimate  the  absence  of  hope,  and  a  desperate 
recklessness  of  the  future." 

Such  were  the  legitimate  fruits  of  a  pure  democracy  in 
the  hands  of  unprincipled  and  godless  leaders.  "  It  was 
scarlet  fever,  under  Avhose  run  hack-drivers  in  red  shirts 
handled  the  Portfolio  of  Foreign  Affairs,  and  street  paupers 
administered  the  financial  matters  of  the  ,countiy."  Beau- 
tiful democratic  republic! 

At  length  the  Directorial  Government  approached  a 
crisis.  The  affairs  of  state  were  rent  in  sunder;  the  roads 
were  infested  with  brigands ;  the  rich  were  vexed  on  one 
hand  by  the  extortions  of  the  government,  and  on  the 
other  by  the  plunderings  of  the  poor.  A  change  was  inev- 
itable. The  republic  had  lost  its  opportunity.  All  but  a 
few  extreme  democrats  felt,  as  Sieyes  expressed  himself, 
"The  chief  thing  now  wanting  is  a  Aeari."  Bonaparte, 
knowing  the  feeling,  took  much  the  same  step  that  Coesar 
did  when  crossing  the  Rubicon:  he  retiu'ned  to  France. 
Public  sentiment  was  in  his  favor;  the  Directory  even 
"praised  and  feared,  but  dared  not  reproach  him."  In  a 
modest  mansion  in  the  Rue  Chantereine,  Bonaparte,  to 
make  sure  of  the  popular  pulse,  secluded  himself  from 
general  observation.  The  leaders  of  all  parties  made  over- 
tures. France,  torn,  bleeding,  and  despairing  of  a  free  and 
efficient  government,  prayed  for  one  arm  to  wield  the  sov- 
ereignty. Bonaparte  was  appointed  First  Consul  for  one 
year ;  then  a  second  time  for  a  term  of  ten  years ;  then  for 
life.  While,  therefore,  in  form  he  was  only  an  officer  of  the 
republic,  in  fact  he  was  sovereign  ruler  of  France.  This 
nominal  consular  government,  between  the  efforts  of  the 


II.]  THE  FRENCH  REPUBLIC.  93 

old  royalists  on  the  one  hand,  who  were  seeking  its  over- 
throw, and  on  the  other  hand  the  ambitions  eftbrts  of 
Bonaparte  to  establish  a  new  monarchy,  could  not  long 
continue. 

On  the  30th  of  April,  1796,  a  motion  was  introduced  into 
the  Tribunate  to  confide  the  government  to  an  emperor, 
and  to  declare  the  empire  hereditaiy  in  the  family  of  the 
First  Consul,  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  Most  of  the  tribunes 
had  been  pledged  beforehand  to  its  support.  The  heroic 
opposition  of  Carnot  is  praiseworthy,  and  his  historic  ref- 
erence to  Rome  was  very  suggestive.36  But  the  time  had 
passed ;  his  words  were  unheeded.  The  motion  prevailed, 
was  subsequently  communicated  to  the  senate,  and  by  that 
body  was  ratified. 

Napoleon  lost  no  time  in  assuming  and  exercising  the 
powers  belonging  to  the  sovereignty  thus  conferred.  Eigh- 
teen of  his  favorite  generals  were  made  marshals  of  the 
empire,  and  Napoleon's  power  was  complete.  "  Addresses 
now  flowed  in  from  all  parts  of  the  hundred  and  eight 
departments  into  which  the  territory  of  the  imperial  re- 
public was  divided.  The  authorities,  the  functionaries, 
the  magistracy,  and  the  army,  all  brought  to  the  foot  of 
the  throne  assurances  of  the  most  profound  devotion. 
Harassed  with  the  convulsions  of  a  long  anarchy,  the 
people  now  invoked  the  repose  of  servitude.  The  despot- 
ism of  one  man  seemed  to  them  a  small  evil  compared 
with  the  tyranny  of  the  factions." 

Imola,  who  urged  his  flock  in  1797  to  take  sides  with 
the  democratic  revolutionists,  forgetting  his  ardent  repub- 
licanism, hastened,  in  1804,  to  crown  Napoleon,  in  Notre 
Dame,  Emperor  of  France. 


94  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part  ii. 

Thus,  after  an  existence  of  twelve  years,  expired  the 
French  Republic,  which  so  many  of  her  orators  and  rhet- 
oricians had  pronounced  to  be  "forever  indivisible  and 
imperishable.''''  37,  38. 


III. 

EXISTING  REPUBLICS;    EXCLUSIVE    OF  THE 
UNITED   STATES. 


95 


CHAPTER    I. 

EUROPEAN    REPUBLICS. 

I.  San  Marino.  —  In  Italy,  a  few  miles  southwest  from 
Rimini,  and  four  from  the  shores  of  the  Adriatic,  is  situated 
La  Republica  di  San  Marino,  the  oldest  republic  of  the 
world.  Addison,  who  visited  there  in  1700,  gives  the  fol- 
lowing account  of  its  origin : 

'•  The  inhabitants  as  well  as  the  historians  who  mention 
this  little  republic  give  the  following  account  of  its  origi- 
nal. St.  Marino  was  its  founder  —  a  Dalmatian  by  birth, 
and  by  trade  a  mason.  He  was  employed  about  thirteen 
hundred  years  ago  in  the  reparation  of  Rimini,  and  after 
he  had  finished  his  work  retired  to  this  solitary  mountain, 
as  finding  it  veiy  proper  for  the  life  of  a  hermit,  which  he 
led  in  the  greatest  rigors  and  austerities  of  religion.  He 
had  not  been  long  here  before  he  wrought  a  reputed  mira- 
cle, which,  joined  with  his  extraordinary  sanctity,  gained 
him  so  gi'eat  an  esteem  that  the  princess  of  the  country 
made  him  a  present  of  the  mountain,  to  dispose  of  at  his 
own  discretion.  His  reputation  quickly  peopled  it,  and 
gave  rise  to  the  rejDublic  which  calls  itself  after  his  name, 
so  that  the  commonwealth  of  Marino  may  boast  at  least  of 
a  nobler  original  than  that  of  Rome,  the  one  having  been 
an  asylum  for  robbers  and  murderers,  and  the  other  a  re- 
sort of  persons  eminent  for  their  piety  and  devotion." 
7  97 


98  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

San  Marino  at  present  embraces  five  villages,  has  less 
than  eight  thousand  inhabitants,  an  extent  of  territory  not 
over  twenty-two  square  miles,  and  is  entirely  mountainous. 
There  is  a  standing  army  which  includes  nearly  every  one 
who  is  able  to  bear  arms.  The  general  government  is 
intrusted  to  a  council  of  sixty,  the  chief  officer  being 
termed  Captain-Regent.  The  people  are  not  much  vexed 
with  the  troublesome  questions  of  finance ;  they  use  Italian 
coinage,  and  the  annual  expenses  of  government,  including 
army,  police,  post-office,  and  education,  do  not  exceed 
twenty-five  thousand  francs  (five  thousand  dollars).  The 
republic  is  neither  blessed  nor  afflicted  with  a  newspaper 
or  printing-press.  In  one  respect  at  least  the  government 
is  high-toned  —  it  rigorously  excludes  from  its  domains  all 
gambling  establishments.     Says  a  recent  visitor : 

"Parties  from  distant  parts  of  Europe  had  offered,  for 
the  gaming  privilege,  to  construct  new  roads,  establish  tel- 
egraphs, and  multiply  facilities  of  all  kinds,  for  communi- 
cating with  the  outer  world ;  but  the  Captain-Regent  had 
manfully  resisted  the  temptation,  and  had  even  extermi- 
nated the  game  of  Biribisso,  which  had  also  begun  'to  pre- 
vail to  some  extent  within  his  dominions." 

There  is  one  prison,  but  at  latest  accounts  it  was  without 
an  occupant.  There  are  manifest  reasons  why  this  republic 
has  so  long  maintained  its  existence  amid  the  many  revo- 
lutions of  medieval  and  modern  Europe.  She  has  never 
intermeddled  in  the  affairs  of  surrounding  governments; 
she  is  not  herself  a  prize  of  sufficient  value  to  tempt  the 
stronger  powers  of  Europe  to  interfere  with  her  civil  lib- 
erty; she  has  a  homogeneous  population,  and  her  people 
have  from  the  earliest  times  been  characterized  by  good 


III.]  ANDORRA.  99 

sense,  energy,  prudence,  industry,  and  economy.  If  her 
citizens  do  not  degenerate,  and  if  outside  parties  do  not 
interfere,  San  Marino  bids  fair  to  remain  an  independent 
state  for  the  coming  thousand  years. 

n.  Andorra.  —  Situated  on  the  Spanish  side  of  the 
eastern  Pyrenees  is  another  miniature  republic,  bearing  the 
name  Andorra.  It  has  an  area  of  about  six  liundred  and 
fifty  square  miles,  is  surrounded  by  high  mountains,  is  di- 
vided into  six  parishes,  and  has  a  population  of  less  than 
seven  thousand.  Andorra  has  been  independent  since  the 
time  of  Charlemagne,  who,  about  the  year  790,  declared  it 
a  free  state,  in  reward  for  services  rendered  by  its  inhabi- 
tants when  he  was  making  a  passage  through  the  danger- 
ous defiles  of  the  mountains  of  Catalonia,  to  wage  war 
upon  the  Moors  in  Spain. 

The  government  is  composed  of  a  supreme  council  of 
twenty-four  members,  of  whom  each  parish  elects  four. 
The  chief  executive,  whose  term  of  office  is  for  life,  unless 
impeached  or  otherwise  incapacitated,  is  chosen  by  the 
supreme  council.  Justice  is  administered  by  two  judges. 
The  expenses  of  the  government  are  trifling,  and  are  de- 
frayed by  a  rental  tax  paid  by  owners  of  flocks  for  the  use 
of  public  pasture  lands. 

Andorra  is  under  the  nominal  protection  of  France,  and 
pays  to  that  country  an  annual  tribute  of  960  francs  for 
the  privilege  of  importing,  free  of  duty,  certain  specified 
French  commodities  which  the  countiy  needs,  but  cannot 
produce. 

Each  parish  has  a  school,  in  which,  however,  little  more 
than  the  rudiments  of  education  are  taught.     The  people 


-^ 


100  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [pakt 

are  mostly  farmers  and  stock-raisers,  speak  the  Catalan 
language,  are  robust,  homogeneous,  of  an  independent 
'^spirit,  simple,  frugal,  industrious,  and  somewhat  severe  in 
vXtheir  manners,  and  yet  are  notably  hospitable.  They  have 
^  maintained  the  military  spirit  from  their  earliest  history ; 
\all  the  inhabitants  capable  of  bearing  arms  are  reviewed 
V^once  a  year.  The  Andorrans  more  than  once  manfully 
esisted  Spanish  invasions,  and  during  the  wars  of  the 
yrenees  rendered  France  a  service  which  has  never  been 
forgotten.  Judging  from  present  appearances,  this  republic, 
which  already  has  a  history  of  nearly  twelve  hundred  years, 
is  likely  to  remain  while  many  other  governments,  far 
lore  pretentious,  are  sinking  into  dark  gi'aves  yawning  to 
efceive  them. 


III.     Switzerland. — Among   mountain    republics    of 

[limited  territoiy  is  classed  the  Confederation  of  Switzer- 

and.     It  is  situated  in  the  heart  of  Europe,  has  an  area 

of  a  trifle  less  than  sixteen  thousand  square  miles,  and 

occupies  the  culminating  territory  of  the  continent,  sloping 

^  ^in  every  direction  towards  the  surrounding  seas.  There 
A  are  traces   of  a  prehistoric  people,   the   "lake-dwellers," 

l\^  probably  of  Asiatic  origin,  who  were  doubtless  extermi- 
nated by  the  ancestors  of  the  Helveti;  the  first  inhabitants 
of  Switzerland,  whose  name  has  been  transmitted  to  history. 
These  Helveti,  who  received  from  the  Romans  the  name  of 
"  Confederates,"  were  almost  constantly  engaged  in  war 
with  surrounding  tribes  and  nations.  Up  to  879  A.  d., 
Switzerland  had  been  successively  under  the  domination 
of  the  Romans,  the  Ostrogoths,  the  Alemans,  the  Burgun- 
dians,  and  the  Franks.     Against  each  of  these  powers  she 


III.]  SWITZERLAND.  101 

had  fought  for  her  freedom,  and  later  against  also  the 
Austrians  and  the  French.     The  Thirty  Years'  War  nearly- 
put  an  end  to  the  Swiss  Confederation,  but  by  the  treaty' 
of  Westphalia  (1648)  Switzerland  was  declared  independent- 
of  the  German  empire.    Disorders  reigned  and  malcontents 
multiplied,   until    the   death  of   Louis  XIV.      Under  the. 
French  Directoiy,  Switzerland  was  converted  into  a  repub-  ' 
lie,  "one  and  indivisible."     This  lasted  four  years.     The" 
reply  of  the  First  Consul  to  a  delegation  sent  to  Paris,  1802, 
asking  what  form  should  be  given  to  the  new  constitution, 
which  Switzerland  had  in  view,  was  wise :  "  Nature  made^ 
you  to  be  a  federative  state;  no  reasonable  man  attempts 
to  conquer  nature."    This  government  was  followed  by  a* 
league  based  upon  federal  principles,  which,  at  the  fall  of , 
the  French  empire,  ten  years  later,  came  to  an  end.     By* 
the  Congress  of  Vienna  (1815)  her  independence  was  again 
acknowledged  and  guaranteed. 

There  followed  an  era  of  constitution-making,  at  first 
inclining  to  state  rights,  or,  as  it  has  been  termed,  state 
independence.  This  tendency  was  found  by  the  wisest 
minds  of  the  republic  to  be  inexpedient  and  unsafe.  The 
republic,  in  1848,  became  a  united  confederacy. 39  The  love 
for  cantons  has  given  place  to  the  love  for  Switzerland. 

The  present  constitution  came  into  force  May  29,  1874, 
having  received,  April  19,  1874,  the  national  sanction  by  a 
general  vote  of  the  people.  It  vests  the  supreme  legislative 
and  executive  authority  in  a  parliament  of  two  chambers — 
a  State  Council,  and  a  National  Coimcil.  The  first  is 
composed  of  forty-four  members,  two  from  each  of  the 
twenty-two  cantons  of  the  Confederation.  The  National 
Council  consists  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  represent- 


102        "^  *Jf^«w!^ATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

atives,  chosen  in  direct  election,  at  the  rate  of  one  repre- 
sentative for  every  twenty  tliousand  persons. 

A  general  election  takes  place  once  in  three  years. 
Every  citizen  who  has  reached  the  age  of  twenty  years  is 
entitled  to  a  vote ;  and  any  voter,  not  a  clergyman,  may  be 
elected  a  representative.  Both  chambers  united  are  called 
the  Federal  Assembly,  and  as  such  represent  the  supreme 
government  of  the  republic.  It  alone  has  the  right  to 
declare  war,  make  peace,  and  conclude  alliances  and  trea- 
ties with  other  nations.  The  chief  executive  authority  is 
deputed  to  a  Federal  Council,  consisting  of  seven  members, 
elected  for  three  years  by  the  Federal  Assembly.  Every 
citizen  entitled  to  a  vote  in  the  National  Council  is  eligible 
to  membership  in  this  executive  branch  of  government. 

The  president  and  vice-president  of  the  Federal  Council 
are  the  first  magistrates  of  the  republic,  and  are  elected  by 
the  Federal  Assembly.  The  Swiss  people  guard  against 
the  dangers  of  a  continued  term  in  the  presidency  by  re- 
stricting it  to  one  year,  and  by  making  both  the  president 
and  vice-president  ineligible  at  the  succeeding  election. 
But  they  do  not  ever  after  deprive  themselves  of  the  presi- 
dential services  of  able  and  worthy  men ;  they  allow  both 
president  and  vice-president  to  be  re-eligible  after  the 
expiration  of  one  year. 

/'Each  of  tlie  cantons  has  its  local  government,  based,  in 
every  instance,  upon  the  principle  of  the  absolute  sover- 
Vgnty  of  the  people. 

The^ilitary  spirit  is  fostered  throughout  Switzerland, 
and  her  military  organization  is  one  of  the  most  perfect  in 
Europe.  The  laws  of  the  republic  forbid  the  maintenance 
of  a  standing  army  within  her  limits.     The  18th  article  of 


m.]  SWITZERLAiro 


the  Constitution  of  1874  enacts  that  **  eveiy  Swiss  is  liable 
to  serve  in  the  defence  of  his  coimtiy."  Article  19  enacts 
that  "  the  Federal  army  shall  consist  of  all  men  liable  to 
military  service,  and  both  the  army  and  the  War  material 
shall  be  at  the  disposal  of  the  Confederation.  In  cases  of 
emergency  the  Confederation  shall  have  also  the  exclusive 
and  undivided  right  of  disposing  of  the  men  who  do  not 
belong  to  the  Federal  army,  and  of  all  the  other  military 
forces  of  the  cantons.  The  cantons  shall  dispose  of  the 
defensive  force  of  then-  respective  territories  in  so  far  as 
their  power  to  do  so  is  not  limited  by  the  constitutional 
or  legal  regulations  of  the  Confederation."  Article  20 
provides  that  "  the  Confederation  shall  enact  all  laws  rela- 
tive to  the  army,  and  watch  over  their  due  execution;  it 
also  shall  provide  for  the  education  of  the  troops,  and  bear 
the  cost  of  all  military  expenditure  which  is  not  provided 
for  by  the  legislatures  of  the  cantons." 

The  troops  of  the  republic  are  divided  into  two  classes : 
First,  the  "  Bundes-auszug,"  or  Federal  army,  consisting 
of  all  men  able  to  bear  arms,  from  the  age  of  twenty  to 
thirty-two.  Each  canton  is  obliged,  by  the  terms  of  the 
constitution,  to  furnish  at  least  three  per  cent,  of  its  popula- 
tion to  the  Federal  army.  Second,  the  "Landwehr,"  or 
militia,  comprising  all  men  fi-om  the  thirty-third  to  the 
completed  forty-fourth  year.  The  strength  and  organiza- 
tion of  the  armed  forces  of  Switzerland  were  as  follows  at 
the  end  of  September,  1879 :  Federal  army,  105,378 ;  militia, 
97,019 ;  total,  202,397.  The  men  of  both  the  Federal  army 
and  the  reserve  militia  are  called  together  in  their  respec- 
tive cantons  for  annual  drill,  a  week  or  more  for  the 
infantiy,  and  two  weeks  or  more  for  the  cavalry  and  artil- 


104:  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

leiy.  In  addition  to  this,  the  troops  of  several  contiguous 
cantons  assemble  once  or  twice  yearly  for  general  muster. 
The  military  instruction  of  the  Federal  army  is  given  to 
officers  not  permanently  appointed  or  paid,  but  who  must 
have  undergone  a  course  of  education,  and  passed  an  exam- 
ination at  one  of  the  training  establishments  erected  for 
the  purpose.  Switzerland,  therefore,  has  between  two  and 
three  hundred  thousand  troops,  drilled,  organized,  and 
equipped,  whenever  the  Federal  Assembly  deems  it  neces- 
sary to  call  them  into  service. 

The  Swiss  authorities  jealously  guard  against  increasing 
the  national  debt.  For  many  years,  except  1871,  when 
there  was  a  deficit  caused  by  increased  expenses  necessi- 
tated by  the  Franco- German  war,  the  receipts  have  exceed- 
ed the  expenditures.  The  government  is  also  wise  and 
vigorous  in  its  educational  measures.  Parents  are  com- 
pelled by  law  to  send  their  children  to  school,  or  to  have 
them  privately  taught,  between  the  ages  of  six  and  twelve ; 
neglect  may  be  punished  by  fine,  and,  in  some  cases,  by 
imprisonment.  The  law  hitherto  has  not  always  been  en- 
forced in  Roman  Catholic  cantons,  but  is  rigidly  earned 
out  in  those  where  Protestants  form  the  majority.  In  eveiy 
district  there  are  primary  schools,  where  the  elements  of 
education,  including  geography  and  histoiy,  are  taught ;  and 
schools  of  higher  gi-ade  for  youths  of  from  twelve  to  fifteen, 
where  instruction  is  given  in  modern  languages,  geometry, 
natural  history,  the  fine  arts,  and  music.  In  both  these 
schools  the  rich  and  the  poor  are  educated  together,  the 
latter  being  admitted  gratuitously.^o  Swiss  schools  have  a 
high  reputation  throughout  Europe,  and  it  is  estimated  that 


III.]  SWITZERLAND.  105 

half  the   governesses   on  the   Continent   are   educated  in 
Switzerland. 

The  government  likewise  has  legislated  judiciously  as  to 
religious  toleration,  and  freedom  in  case  of  all  creeds  and 
societies  that  do  not  endanger  the  civil  government.  The 
constitution  of  1874  has  the  following  enactments :  "  There 
shall  be  complete  and  absolute  liberty  of  conscience  and  of 
creed.  No  one  can  incur  any  penalties  wdiatever  on  ac- 
count of  his  religious  opinions.  The  person  who  exercises 
the  paternal  authority  or  that  of  guardian,  has  the  right  to 
dispose  of  the  religious  education  of  children  up  to  the  age 
of  sixteen  years.  No  one  is  bound  to  pay  taxes  specially 
appropriated  to  defraying  the  expenses  of  a  creed  to  which 
he  does  not  belong.  The  free  exercise  of  worship  is  guar- 
anteed within  the  limits  compatible  with  public  order  and 
proper  behavior.  The  cantons  can  take  the  necessary 
measures  for  the  maintenance  of  public  order  and  peace 
between  the  members  of  the  different  religious  communi- 
ties, as  well  as  against  the  encroachments  of  ecclesiastical 
authorities  on  the  rights  of  the  citizens  of  the  state.  All 
disputes  arising  from  the  creation  of  new  religious  commu- 
nities, or  schisms  in  existing  bodies,  shall  be  referred  to 
the  Federal  authorities.  No  bishoprics  can  be  created  on 
Swiss  teiTitory  without  the  ai^probation  of  the  Confedera- 
tion. The  order  of  Jesuits  and  its  affiliated  societies  cannot 
be  received  in  any  part  of  Switzerland ;  all  functions  cler- 
ical and  scholastic  are  forbidden  to  its  members,  and  the 
interdiction  can  be  extended  to  any  other  religious  orders 
whose  action  is  dangerous  to  the  state,  or  interferes  with 
the  peace  of  different  creeds.  The  foundation  of  new 
convents  or  religious  orders  is  forbidden." 


106  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

Switzerland  in  many  respects  is  also  extremely  fortunate 
in  her  population.  Less  than  six  per  cent,  of  her  citizens 
are  foreigners,  there  being,  according  to  the  census  of  1870, 
not  one  Irish  Roman  Catholic  voter  within  her  territory. 
The  Swiss  are  frugal  and  industrious ;  indeed,  no  people  on 
earth  surpass  them  in  these  respects.  The  herdsman  is 
found  everywhere  among  her  rocky  retreats  with  his  flocks, 
and  no  foot  of  available  soil  is  allowed  by  the  thrifty 
farmer  to  remain  idle. 

The  cities  of  Switzerland  are  not  so  thronged  as  are  those 
of  other  European  states.  The  population  dwells  cliiefly 
in  small  towns,  hamlets,  and  villages.  At  the  census 
of  1870  there  were  but  five  towns  in  Switzerland  with 
more  than  twenty  thousand  inhabitants,  namely,  Geneva, 
Basel,  Bern,  Lausanne,  and  Zurich.  The  soil  of  the 
country  is  veiy  equally  divided  among  the  population. 
It  is  estimated  that  nearly  nine-tenths  of  the  families 
occupy  homes  and  lands  of  their  own.  The  home  and  the 
few  acres  of  land  lie  at  the  foundation  of  much  of  Swiss 
patriotism,  constitute  one  of  her  strongest  bulwarks,  and 
harmoniously  unite  her  people  into  a  happy  and  flour- 
ishing republic.  The  increase  of  population  has  been  very 
steady  in  recent  years.  The  surplus  of  births  over  deaths, 
in  five  years  from  1873  to  1877,  was  one  hundred  and 
nine  thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty-six.  The  people 
seemed  to  have  been  governed  by  a  native  wisdom  that 
might  be  shaped  into  the  following  maxim :  "  Remain  at 
home,  and  you  will  prosper  as  well  as  if  you  go  abroad." 
Emigration,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  has  been  for  several  years 
on  the  decrease.  Again:  " Attract  strangers  to  the  country 
by  honest  treatment,  and  they  will  be  more  inclined  to  buy 


III.]  SWITZERLAND.  107 

your  wares."  A  branch  of  industry  that  is  acquiring  no 
small  extent  and  value,  is  that  of  wood-carving.  Many  of 
the  productions  are  so  elaborate  and  beautiful,  that  one 
can  hardly  resist  the  temptation  to  buy.  Not  only  large 
communities  are  thus  supported,  but  in  hundreds  of  ham- 
lets and  isolated  chalets,  during  the  long  and  dreary  winters, 
is  this  industry  vigorously  prosecuted. 

Again  they  say:  "What  distinguishes  our  country  is 
her  natural  scenery;  let  us,  therefore,  make  it  a  national 
resource."  They  accordingly  built  excellent  highways, 
erected  commodious  hotels,  explored  and  surveyed  their 
lofty  mountains,  and  entered  upon  the  systematic  business 
of  exhibiting  to  the  world  their  magnificent  scenery.  It  is 
this  practical  employment  of  the  natural  features  of  Switz- 
erland which  has  now  become  the  source  of  much  of  the 
prosperity  of  the  republic. 

The  authorities  are  seeking  to  prevent  eveiy  kind  of 
extortion,  which  in  other  countries  is  freely  practised  upon 
travellers.  They  have  discussed  the  subject  of  beggary 
with  gi-eat  care,  and  publicly  advise  all  tourists  not  to  give 
to  professional  beggars,  as  the  best  means  of  making  them 
abandon  their  jDrofession.  One  may  therefore  travel  in 
most  parts  of  Switzerland,  with  no  suspicion  of  being  jewed. 
The  guides,  coachmen,  burden-bearers,  and  nearly  all  who 
systematically  come  into  contact  with  the  traveller,  are  now 
regulated  by  a  legal  tariff  which  they  dare  not  transcend. 
In  most  places  the  traveller  may  mount  a  horse,  or  step  into 
a  coach,  tell  the  driver  where  to  go,  ask  for  the  tariff  list, 
pay  it,  and  dismiss  him  without  bickering  or  overcharge. 

In  a  word,  Switzerland,  after  emerging  from  five  centu- 
ries of  desperate  struggle  for  independence,  has  proved  to 


108  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

the  world  that  hy  living  honestly  and  prudently,  and  by 
developing  and  cultivating  such  resources  as  God  has 
given,  a  people  having  hut  small  territory  and  extremely 
limited  resources  may  take  an  honorable  rank  among  the 
most  enlightened  and  highly-favored  nations  of  the  earth. 

If  Switzerland  continues  to  maintain  her  ennobling  mili- 
tary spirit,  her  system  of  education,  her  habits  of  frugality 
and  thrift,  if  Roman  Catholicism  does  not  gain  the  ascend- 
ency, and  if  immigration  does  not  soil  her  citizenship,  the 
Alps  bid  fair  to  remain,  for  years,  the  home  of  a  people 
strong,  prosperous,  and  independent. 

IV.  France.'" — A  Frenchman  died  recently  in  Pau, 
the  capital  of  the  department  of  Basses-Pyrenees,  at  one 
hundred  and  four  years  of  age.  He  had  witnessed  the 
reigns  of  Louis  XV.,  Louis  XVI.,  the  Convention,  Direc- 
tory, Consulate,  Empire,*  Louis  XVIII. ,  the  Hundred  Days, 
the  Restoration,  Charles  X.,  the  Revolution  of  1830,  Louis 
Philippe,  the  Revolution  of  1848,  the  Republic,  the  Empire, 
and  the  beginning  of  the  present  Republic.  The  wonder 
is  that  anything  is  left  in  France,  out  of  which  to  organize 
another  independent  and  orderly  state.  And  j^et,  it  may 
be  safely  said  that  France  was  never  more  prosperous  than 
now,  and,  all  things  considered,  but  few  states  in  Europe 
are  better  ©ff.42 

The  present  constitution,  voted  by  the  National  Assembly 
elected  in  1871,  bears  the  date  of  February  25,  1875.  It 
vests  the  legislative  power  in  an  assembly  of  two  houses, 
the  Chamber  .of  Deputies  and  the  Senate,  and  the  executive 
power  in  a  chief  magistrate  called  President  of  the  Re- 
public.   The  Chamber  of  Deimties  is  elected  by  universal 


in.]  FRANCE.  109 

sufirage,  under  the  "  scrutin  d'aiTonclissement,"  adopted  by 
the  National  Assembly,  November  11, 1875.  It  was  enacted 
that  every  arrondissement  should  elect  one  deputy,  and  if  its 
population  be  in  excess  of  100,000,  an  additional  deputy  for 
each  100,000,  or  portion  tliereof  The  only  requisite  to  be 
an  elector  is  to  be  possessed  of  citizenship  and  to  be  of  the 
age  of  twenty-one  years.  The  only  requisite  for  a  deputy 
is  to  be  a  citizen  and  twenty-five  years  of  age.  There 
are  five  hundred  and  thirty-two  members  in  the  Cham- 
ber of  Deputies.  The  Senate  is  composed  of  three  hun- 
dred members,  of  which  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  are 
elected  by  the  departments  of  France  and  the  colonies, 
and  seventy-five  were  nominated,  in  the  first  instance,  by 
the  National  Assembly,  and  subsequently  are  elected  by 
the  Senate.  The  senators  for  the  departments  are  elected 
by  electoral  colleges  for  the  term  of  nine  years,  retiring  by 
thirds  every  three  years,  while  those  nominated  by  the 
National  Assembly,  or  elected  by  the  Senate,  sit  for  life. 
No  other  qualification  is  required  for  a  senator  than  to  be 
a  Frenchman  and  forty  years  of  age.  The  Senate  and  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  assemble  annually  on  the  second 
Tuesday  in  January,  unless  previously  summoned  by  the 
President  of  the  Republic.  They  must  remain  in  session  at 
least  five  months  every  year.  The  Chamber  of  Deputies  is 
elected  for  the  term  of  four  years. 

The  President  of  the  Republic  has  the  right  of  convoking 
the  Chambers  should  circumstances  warrant,  and  is  bound 
to  convoke  them  if  the  demand  is  made  by  one- half  of  the 
number  of  members  composing  each  Chamber.  The  Presi- 
dent can  adjourn  the  Chambers,  but  the  adjournment  cannot 
exceed  the  term  of  one  month,  nor  occur  more  than  twice 


110  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

the  same  session.  With  the  assent  of  the  Senate,  he  may 
dissolve  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  before  the  legal  expira- 
tion of  its  term,  but  in  such  event  the  electoral  colleges 
must  be  summoned  for  new  elections  within  three  months. 
The  ministers  as  a  body  are  responsible  to  the  Chambers 
for  the  general  policy  of  the  government,  and  individually, 
for  their  personal  acts.  The  President  of  the  Republic  is 
elected  by  majority  vote  in  the  Senate  and  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  united  in  National  Assembly.  He  is  nominated 
for  seven  years,  and  is  eligible  for  re-election.  He  promul- 
gates the  laws  when  they  have  been  voted  by  the  two 
Chambers,  and  watches  over  and  insures  their  execution. 
He  has  the  right  of  individual  pardon,  but  cannot  proclaim 
a  general  amnesty.  He  disposes  of  the  armed  force  and 
appoints  to  all  civil  and  military  posts,  including  the  heads 
of  the  ministerial  departments.  Every  act  of  the  President 
of  the  Republic  must  be  countersigned  by  a  Minister  of 
State.  The  President  can  be  impeached  only  in  case  of 
high-treason.  In  the  event  of  a  vacancy  by  death,  or  any 
other  cause,  the  two  united  Chambers  must  proceed  imme- 
diately to  the  election  of  a  new  President. 

The  population  of  France  at  the  census  of  1872  was 
upward  of  thirty-five  and  a  quarter  millions,  a  fraction  over 
ninety-eight  per  cent,  being,  at  least  nominally,  Roman 
Catholics. 

The  Colonial  Possessions  of  France,  dispersed  over  Asia, 
Africa,  America,  and  Polynesia,  and  including  the  so-called 
"Pays  proteges,"  or  countries  under  protection,  have  a 
total  area  of  335,629  English  square  miles,  with  a  popula- 
tion of  six  and  a  quarter  millions.  Not  comprised  in  the 
list  is  Algeria,  which  has  a  government  and  laws  distinct 


m.]  FRANCE.  Ill 

from  the  other  colonial  possessions,  being  looked  upon, 
partly  from  its  proximity  to  France,  and  partly  from  serving 
as  camp  and  practice-field  for  a  large  portion  of  the  standing 
army,  as  a  sort  of  annex  of  the  mother-country.  Algeria, 
as  well  as  all  the  other  colonies,  are  represented  in  the 
Senate  and  Chamber  of  Deputies,  and  are  considered, 
politically,  a  part  of  France. 

France  in  many  respects  is  highly  favored.  More  than 
eighteen  and  a  half  millions  of  her  people  are  engaged  in 
agriculture.  Land  is  very  equally  divided  among  the  en- 
tire population.  According  to  the  latest  official  returns  the 
cultivated  land  of  France  was  divided  into  five  million  five 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  distinct  properties.  Of  this 
total,  the  estates  averaging  six  hundred  acres  numbered 
fifty  thousand,  and  those  averaging  sixty  acres  five  luindred 
thousand,  while  there  were  five  millions  having  less  than 
six  acres. 

There  is  scarcely  any  emigration  from  France ;  the  only 
exodus  of  any  extent  taking  place  in  recent  j^ears  consisted 
in  a  movement  of  the  Basques,  in  the  department  of  the 
Hautes-Pyrenees,  to  quit  the  country  in  order  to  escape 
military  service. 

All  religions  are  equal  b}'  law,  but  none  except  the 
Roman  Catholics,  Protestants,  and  Jews,  have  state  allow- 
ances.    The  power  of  Romanism  is  constantly  declining. 

Public  education  in  France  is  entirely  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  government,  but  to  a  great  extent,  partly 
directly,  but  much  more  indirectly,  is  intrusted  by  the  state 
to  the  hands  of  the  Roman  Catholic  'clergy.  Accompanying 
the  general  census  of  1872,  there  was  an  official  inquiry 
into  the  educational  condition   of  the   nation,  which  was 


112  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

very  carefully  made,  and  gave  the  following  results :  Nine- 
tenths  of  the  children  under  six ;  more  than  a  lifth,  but  less 
than  a  fourth  of  the  youths  of  both  sexes  under  twenty; 
and  more  than  a  third  of  the  gi*own-up  population  of  men 
and  women,  are  unable  to  read  or  write.  Setting  aside  the 
four  millions  of  children  under  six  years  of  age,  it  was  esti- 
mated that  tliirty  per  cent,  of  the  population  of  France  are 
entirely  destitute  of  education. 

The  military  forces  of  France  are  in  a  state  of  reorgan- 
ization. The  first  article  of  the  law  of  1872  enacts  uni- 
versal liability  to  arms:  "Tout  Fran(;ais  doit  le  service 
militaire  jiersonnel."  By  Arts,  second  and  fourth,  substi- 
tution and  enlistment  for  money  are  forbidden ;  and  by  Art. 
third  it  is  ordered  that  "  every  Frenchman  not  declared 
nnfit  for  military  service  may  be  called  uj),  from  the  age  of 
twenty  to  that  of  forty  years,  to  enter  tlie  active  armj^  or 
the  reserves."  The  constitution  of  these  divisions  of  the 
armed  forces  is  prescribed  in  the  third  chapter,  the  first 
article,  as  follows :  "  Every  Frenchman  not  declared  unfit 
for  militaiy  service  must  be  five  years  in  the  Active  Army, 
four  years  in  the  Reserve  of  the  Active  Army,  five'  years  in 
the  Territorial  Army,  and  six  years  in  the  Reserve  of  the 
Territorial  Army.  The  Active  Army  is  composed  of  all 
young  men,  not  otherwise  exempted,  who  have  reached  the 
age  of  twenty,  and  the  Reserve  of  those  who  liave  passed 
through  the  Active  Army.  Neither  the  Active  Army  nor 
its  Reserve  are  in  any  way  localized,  but  drawn  from  and 
distributed  over  the  whole  of  France.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  Territorial  Army  and  its  Reserve  are  spread  over  fixed 
regions,  determined  from  time  to  time  by  administrative 
enactments.     The  principle  of  universal  liability  to  bear 


m.J  FRANCE.  113 

arms,  laid  down  at  the  beginning,  is  not  carried  out  strictly 
in  all  the  enactments  of  the  law  of  1872,  which  admits  of 
the  usual  exemptions  from  military  service.  The  total 
eftective  force  of  the  French  army,  both  in  men,  including 
ofticers,  rank  and  file,  and  in  horses,  was  reported  as  fol- 
lows to  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  in  the  session  of  1879: 
men,  live  hundred  and  two  thousand  six  hundred  and 
ninety-seven;  horses,  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  ninety-four.  The  navy  of  France  was 
composed,  at  the  end  of  1879,  of  fifty-nine  ironclads,  two 
hundred  and  sixty-four  screw  steamers,  sixty-two  paddle 
steamers,  and  one  hundred  and  thirteen  sailing  vessels. 

The  rapidity  with  which  France  rallied  from  the  Franco- 
German  war,  the  ease  with  which  she  passed  from  an 
empire  to  a  republic,  her  great  activity  in  agriculture, 
manufactures,  and  commerce,  her  military  strength,  and 
her  national  credit,  have  been  a  great  and  almost  startling 
surprise  to  the  world.  If  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  this 
prosperity  and  orderly  government  continue,  there  will  be 
occasion  for  still  gi*eater  surprise. 
8 


CHAPTER    II. 


REPUBLICS    OF    AFRICA. 


Republican  institutions  had  their  origin  among  the  Israel- 
ites in  Asia ;  that  continent  is  to-day  the  only  one  not  hav- 
ing a  republic.  Carthage  fell,  and  Africa  was  left  for 
twenty  centuries  without  republican  institutions.  There 
are  now  in  Africa  three  republics,  though  scarcely  of  suffi- 
cient importance  to  awaken  for  them  the  interest  of  the 
other  nations  of  the  earth. 

I.  Liberia.  —  This  republic,  situated  on  the  west  coast 
of  Africa,  was  founded  in  1820  by  the  American  Coloniza- 
tion Society,  and  was  organized  as  an  independent  state  in 
1847.  It  was  first  acknowledged  by  England,  afterwards 
by  France,  Belgium,  Prussia,  Brazil,  Denmark,  Portugal, 
and  in  1861  by  the  United  States.  The  republic  has  about 
six  hundred  miles  of  coast-line,  and  extends  into  the  inte- 
rior, on  an  average,  one  hundred  miles.  Its  area  is  con- 
stantly increasing  by  purchases  from  the  suiTOunding 
natives.  The  estimated  total  citizenship  is  seven  hundred 
and  twenty  tliousand,  all  belonging  to  the  African  race. 
Nineteen  thousand  are  Americo-Liberians,  and  the  re- 
mainder are  aboriginal  inhabitants.  ^Monrovia,  the  capital, 
has  an  estimated  population  of  thirteen  thousand. 

114: 


FART  III.]  REPUBLICS  OF  AFRICA.  115 

The  Americo-Liberians  have  a  regular  system  of  schools, 
and  show  a  commendable  degi-ee  of  advancement,  in  the 
arts  of  civilization.  The  constitution  of  the  republic  is 
modelled  after  that  of  the  United  States  of  America.  All 
men,  politically,  are  born  free  and  equal.  Elections  take 
place  by  ballot,  and  every  male  citizen  who  possesses  real 
estate  has  the  right  of  suffrage.  But  there  is  a  temporary 
provision  that  no  white  man  can  be  admitted  to  citizenship, 
and  none  but  citizens  can  hold  real  estate  in  the  republic. 
The  executive  is  vested  in  a  president  and  a  non-active 
vice-president,  and  the  legislative  power  is  exercised  by  a 
parliament  of  two  houses,  called  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives.  The  president  and  vice-president  are 
elected  for  two  years ;  the  House  of  Representatives  also 
for  two  years,  and  the  Senate  for  four  years.  There  are 
thirteen  members  of  the  lower  house  and  eight  of  the  upper 
house,  each  county  sending  two  members  to  the  senate. 
It  is  provided  that,  on  the  increase  of  the  population,  each 
ten  thousand  persons  shall  be  entitled  to  an  additional 
representative.  Both  the  president  and  the  vice-president 
must  be  thirty-five  years  of  age,  and  have  real  property  to 
the  value  of  six  hundred  dollars.  In  case  of  the  absence 
or  death  of  the  president,  his  post  is  filled  by  the  vice-pres- 
ident. The  latter  is  also  president  of  the  Senate,  which,  in 
addition  to  being  one  of  the  branches  of  the  legislature,  is 
a  council  for  the  president,  he  being  required  to  submit  to 
it  treaties  and  appointments  for  ratification. 

The  president  may  be  re-elected  without  limit.  The  first 
president,  Joseph  Jenkins  Roberts,  served  four  terms,  from 
1848  to  1856,  and  was  again  re-elected  in  1871.  The  presi- 
dent is  assisted  in  his  executive  duties  by  four  ministers  — 


116  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [pakt 

the  secretary  of  state,  the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  the 
attorney -general,  and  the  postmaster-general. 

For  political  and  judicial  purposes,  the  republic  is  di- 
vided into  four  states,  Montserrado,  Grand  Bassa,  Sinoe, 
and  Maryland,  each  of  which  is  subdivided  into  town- 
ships. 

In  August,  1871,  the  republic  laid  the  foundation  of  a 
public  debt  by  contracting  a  loan  of  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  at  seven  per  cent,  interest,  to  be  redeemed  in  fifteen 
years.  The  loan  was  issued  in  England.  No  interest  has 
ever  been  paid,  the  government  of  the  republic  being  bank- 
rupt. 

The  establishment  of  the  Republic  of  Liberia  was  an 
attempt  made  by  American  philanthropists  to  prove  the 
capacity  of  the  negi-o  race  for  self-government.  The  results 
are  not  what  were  expected.  There  has  been  much  polit- 
ical disorder.  The  climate  is  deadly  to  white  men  and 
enervating  to  all  except  the  natives. 

II.  Orange  River  Free  State.  —  This  republic,  situ- 
ated in  eastern  South  Africa,  is  bounded  east  by  Natal, 
south  by  Cipe  Colony,  and  north  by  the  Transvaal  Re- 
public. It  has  an  area  of  about  fifty  thousand  square 
miles,  and  was  under  British  dominion  from  1848  to  1854, 
but  was  then  abandoned.  When  Natal,  in  1856,  was 
erected  from  a  settlement  to  a  separate  colony  under  the 
British  crown,  the  Dutch  settlers  were  dissatisfied.  They 
left  Natal  and  took  possession  of  the  Orange  River  territory 
and  formed  an  independent  republic,  now  called  the  Orange 
River  Free  State.  It  has  a  population  ranging  between 
thirty  and  forty  thousand. 


III.]  REPUBLICS  OF  AFRICA.  117 

III.  Transvaal  Republic.  —  The  history  of  the  estab- 
lishment of  this  republic  is  similar  to  that  of  the  Orange 
River  Free  State.  Certain  whites  who  were  tired  of  the 
English  rule  in  Cape  Colony  and  Natal  left  their  homes 
and  retreated  north  into  the  wilderness,  and  in  1858  organ- 
ized themselves  into  a  free  and  independent  state.  The 
ten-itoiy  under  the  rule  of  this  republic  is  bounded  north  by 
the  Kaffir  country,  south  by  Natal  and  the  Orange  Repub- 
lic, east  by  the  Portuguese  possessions  and  the  Zulu  coun- 
try, and  west  by  the  Hart  and  Limpope  rivers.  It  has  an 
area  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand  square 
miles,  and  is  thought  to  be  richer  in  minerals  than  any 
other  part  of  the  world.  The  inhabitants  comprise  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  Kaffirs  and  thirty  thousand 
whites.  The  whites  live  apparently  an  easy  life,  chiefly 
upon  widely  scattered  farms.  The  government  consists 
of  a  president,  who  is  the  chief  executive,  and  a  legislative 
assembly. 

What  fate  awaits  these  African  republics,  whether  they 
will  be  kept  within  their  present  narrow  limits  or  extend 
their  territories  as  the  continent  is  explored  and  civilized ; 
whether  they  will  continue  their  existence  for  centuries  to 
come,  or  anon  be  engaged  in  such  civil  wars,  or  in  wars 
among  themselves,  as  shall  terminate  their  existence,  are 
as  yet  matters  of  pure  speculation. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE    REPUBLICS    OF    AMERICA. 

Without  affirming  or  denying  anything  respecting  the 
doubtful  question  of  a  race  of  beings  in  America  resembling 
men  and  prophetic  of  the  Adamic  race,  but  who  were  en- 
tirely destroyed  during  the  geologic  drift  period,  we  adopt 
the  theory  that  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  northern  and  eastern 
portions  of  North  America,  together  with  the  Mound-build- 
ers, Cave-dwellers,  and  civilized  peoples  of  the  western  states, 
Mexico,  Central  America,  and  the  gi-eat  Peruvian  empire, 
belonged  to  the  family  of  Adam,  and  were  the  immedi- 
ate descendants  of  the  primitive  people  inhabiting  north- 
eastern Asia.  Probably  between  ten  and  twenty  centuries 
ago,  those  people,  perhaps  to  escape  the  despotisms  of  Asia, 
from  time  to  time  crossed  Behring  Straits,  or  the  Sea  of 
Kamtchatka,  upon  the  ice  or  by  boats,  different  groups  and 
families,  according  to  their  tastes  and  circumstances,  choos- 
ing different  localities  and  different  modes  of  life."^  There 
are  indications  that  several  centuries  later  the  barbarians 
and  nomadic  tribes  of  the  north  and  east  preyed  upon  the 
more  civilized  people  of  the  southwest,  much  as  the  Goths 
and  Vandals,  during  the  Middle  Ages,  invaded  and  devas- 
tated southern  Europe.  On  the  American  continent  the 
rude  invaders  were  successful  in  nearly  obliterating  the 

118 


III.]  MEXICO.  119 

primitive  civilization,  without  being  themselves  improved 
by  contact  with  it.  Mighty  aboriginal  tribes  throughout 
the  northern  and  eastern  territories  of  America,  ruined  for- 
tifications and  cities  in  the  south  and  west,  and  a  waning 
civilization  in  Mexico,  Central  America,  and  in  the  territo- 
ries of  the  Peruvian  empire,  were  found  by  Europeans  upon 
their  discovery  and  conquest  of  the  American  continent. 

I.  The  United  States  of  Mexico.  —  Probably  not  far 
from  500  A.  d.  the  Toltecks  occupied  the  Mexican  table- 
lands. The  ancient  towns  and  cities  visited  by  Stevenson, 
which  have  been  for  ages  partiall}''  covered  by  dense  tropi- 
cal growths  of  vegetation,  and  whose  ruins  still  strike  with 
awe  the  traveller  penetrating  the  forests  overgTowing  them, 
point  to  an  earlier  civilization  than  that  existing  at  the  time 
of  the  Spanish  conquests,  and  were  undoubtedly  of  Tolteck 
construction.  Five  or  six  centuries  later  the  Toltecks  were 
subdued  by  the  Aztecs,  who  upon  the  ruins  of  that  earlier 
and  higher  civilization  erected  their  own.  Among  the 
Aztecs  were  orators  and  poets,  architects  and  sculptors,  of 
more  than  ordinary  intelligence  and  skill. 

When  Cortez  (1518-1520)  made  his  conquest  of  Mexico, 
the  eighth  of  the  Montezuman  line  of  monarchs  ruled  a 
teiTitoiy  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  square  miles, 
containing  two  million  subjects.  The  Spaniards  held 
Mexico  for  three  hundred  years,  the  country  meanwhile 
receiving  from  Spain  large  numbers  of  immigrants.  Dur- 
ing this  period  the  country  was  involved  in  no  foreign 
wars  nor  in  any  important  internal  revolutions.  Quietly  a 
race-fusion  was  taking  place  between  the  native  Indian 
and  the  conquering  Castilian  races.      After  a  century  or 


120  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

more,  the  few  pure  Spanish  families  remaining  monopolized 
all  positions  of  honor,  came  into  possession  of  the  great 
landed  estates,  and  controlled  the  commerce  and  wealth  of 
the  country.  Against  the  arrogance  and  domination  of 
these  almost  feudal  lords,  who  were  constantly  priding 
themselves  upon  their  pure  Castilian  blood,  the  mass  of 
their  descendants,  Creoles,  born  in  Mexico,  at  length  re- 
belled. They  were  also  angered  against  the  mother-land 
because  she  adopted  the  policy  of  excluding  from  the  offices 
of  state  and  from  military  rank  any  but  native  Spaniards. 
The  Mestizos,  half-bloods  between  Spaniards  and  native 
Mexicans,  for  a  time  prevented  the  Creoles  from  engaging 
in  open  rebellion.  But  when  the  Peninsular  War  began  to 
embarrass  Spain,  all  Mexico  seemed  stirred  with  a  desire 
for  independence.  Hidalgo,  a  parish  priest,  was  the  first 
to  appear  in  the  field,  and  in  1810  headed  a  rebellion  of  the 
Mestizos  against  the  government.  Insurrection  followed 
insurrection,  instigated  and  led  sometimes  by  priests  and 
sometimes  by  military  men.  outlaws,  and  desperadoes.  The 
leaders  in  these  revolutions  did  not  at  first  intend  to  estab- 
lish a  republic,  but  simply  desired  a  change  of  imperial 
rulers.  Spain,  however,  refused  to  allow  a  native  to  take 
the  Mexican  crown,  and  thereupon  Iturbide,  the  "Liber- 
ator," was  proclaimed  emperor. 

At  the  fall  of  Iturbide,  the  army,  being  in  the  ascendant, 
organized  a  republic,  and  IMex'co  wns  thus  unexpectedly 
freed  entirely  from  Spanish  domination.  Tliere  followed  a 
period  of  intrigue  and  revolution,  during  which  difierent 
generals  of  the  army  struggled  to  gain  supreme  power. 

In  1822  Santa  Anna  proclaimed  a  republic,  but  its  consti- 
tution had  little  in  common  with  republics  of  modern  date. 


m.]  MEXICO.  121 

State  affairs  were  in  fearful  disorder.  Presidents  were 
elected  and  rejected  with  the  greatest  irregularity.  Gen- 
eral Santa  Anna,  as  an  illustration,  was  frequently  in  the 
extremes  of  success  and  adversity,  "  one  month  sitting  in 
the  presidential  chair,  armed  with  almost  despotic  power, 
the  next  a  refugee  and  exile."  Whenever  the  power  came 
into  the  hands  of  the  commonalty  they  wielded  it  in  ven- 
geance. The  gachupines,  or  aristocracy,  were  in  various 
ways  persecuted,  were  despoiled  of  their  colossal  fortunes, 
and  in  1829  were  expelled  from  the  countiy. 

A  constitution  was  at  length  formed,  copied  largely  from 
that  of  the  United  States,  but  it  proved  too  radical  for  a 
country  lately  under  imperial  and  Roman  Catholic  sway, 
and  in  consequence  was  overthrown  in  1833.  During  the 
twenty  years  following,  Mexico  was  under  military  leader- 
ship, Avhich,  in  1855,  under  the  triumph  of  the  "  plan  of 
Ayutla,"  during  the  fifth  dictatorship  of  Santa  Anna,  came 
to  an  end.  A  constituent  assembly  was  organized  the 
following  year,  and  in  1857  it  promulgated  a  constitution, 
which  is  essentially  the  one  under  which  the  republic 
is  governed  to-day.  It  embodies  the  most  pronounced 
principles  of  modern  republicanism,  and  in  consequence 
was  not  supported  by  the  conservative  classes,  consisting 
of  the  aristocracy,  certain  military  leaders,  and  the  church 
party,  who  by  various  intrigues  brought  on  two  memora- 
ble struggles :  *'  the  war  of  reform  "  (1857-GO),  and  "  French 
intervention"  (1861-67),  including  the  brief  empire  under 
Ferdinand  Maximilian. 

By  the  terms  of  the  constitution,  Mexico  is  a  federative 
republic,  divided  at  present  into  twenty-seven  states,  one 
territory,   Lower  California,  and  a  federal  district.      The 


122 


FATE  OF  REPUBLICS. 


[part 


powers  of  the  supreme  government  are  divided  into  three 
branches  —  the  legislative,  executive,  and  judiciaiy.  The 
legislative  power  is  vested  in  a  Congress  consisting  of  a 
House  of  Representatives  and  a  Senate,  and  the  executive 
in  a  President.  Representatives,  elected  by  each  state,  at 
the  rate  of  one  for  eighty  thousand  inhabitants,  hold  their 
places  for  two  years.  The  congi*essional  qualifications  are, 
that  the  candidate  shall  be  twenty-five  years  of  age  and 
eight  years  a  resident  of  the  republic.  The  Senate  consists 
of  two  members  for  each  state,  of  at  least  thirty  years  of 
age,  who  are  elected  by  a  plurality  of  votes  in  the  State 
Congress.  The  President  and  Vice-President  are  elected 
by  the  Congress  of  the  States,  and  hold  ofiice  for  four  years. 
They  are  at  any  time  eligible  for  re-election.  Congi'ess 
must  meet  annually  from  January  1  to  April  15,  and  a 
Council  of  Government,  consisting  of  the  Vice-President 
and  half  the  Senate,  sits  during  the  remainder  of  the  year. 

General  Porfirio  Diaz,  proclaimed  President  of  the  repub- 
lic, as  successor  of  Don  Sebastian  Lerdo  de  Tejada,  March 
4,  1877,  was  installed  in  power  in  consequence  of  a  revolu- 
tion which  overthrew  his  predecessor.  The  administration 
of  the  republic  is  carried  on,  under  the  direction  of  the 
President,  by  a  council  of  six  ministers,  heads  of  the  de- 
partments of  Justice,  Finance,  the  Interior,  Army  and 
Navy,  Foreign  Affairs,  and  Public  Works. 

The  area  of  the  republic  is  estimated  at  nearly  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  square  miles,  and  the  popula- 
tion at  upwards  of  nine  and  a*  quarter  millions.  The 
finances  of  the  country  are  in  gi-eat  disorder.  There  has 
been  no  official  monetary  statement  since  the  reign  of 
Maximilian.     The  expenditures  for  the  past  twenty  years 


III.]  MEXICO.  123 

have  been  annually  in  excess  of  the  revenue.  The  bonded 
debt  is  now  between  four  and  five  hundred  million  dollars. 
The  present  government,  however,  does  not  recognize  any 
portion  of  its  liabilities  except  a  six  per  cent,  internal 
Mexican  debt  of  seven  millions;  the  interest  upon  this, 
however,  has  not,  for  many  years,  been  paid. 

It  is  estimated  that  five  millions,  or  more  than  one  half, 
of  the  population  of  the  republic,  are  pm-e  Indians,  the  rest 
comprising  a  mixture  of  various  races,  the  white,  or  Euro- 
pean-descended inhabitants,  numbering  about  five  hundred 
thousand. 

Political  distinctions  formerly  existing  were  abolished  by 
the  constitution  of  1824.  All  persons,  of  whatever  race  or 
color,  are  now  admitted  to  citizenship  and  to  the  enjoyment 
of  equal  civil  and  political  rights.  The  mineral  wealth  of 
Mexico  has  always  been  famous,  and  its  agricultural  pro- 
ducts abundant.  It  has  schools  of  law,  medicine,  music, 
agriculture,  engineering,  mines,  commerce,  fine  arts,  the 
sciences,  and  literature,  and  a  military  college  maintained 
at  public  expense.  There  are  between  four  and  five  thou- 
sand public  schools,  which  are  rapidly  increasing. 

A  recent  student  of  Mexican  affairs,  for  several  years  a 
resident  of  that  country,  though  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  reports  that  in  civil  and  religious  polity  the  country 
is  at  present  nearly  a  unit.  Kot  one  in  a  thousand  of  the 
citizens  incline  to  either  a  monarchy  or  aristocracy.  The 
mass  of  the  people  love  the  republic.  He  further  states 
that  during  the  last  seven  years  the  country  has  been 
very  prosperous,  and  that  no  republic  in  the  world  seems 
more  permanent. 

The  civil  administration    has  jealously  guarded-  itself 


124  FATE   OF  REPUBLICS.  [paet 

against  its  most  dangerous  foe,  the  Roman  Catholic  church. 
There  is  not  at  present  a  nunnery,  monastery,  nun,  sister 
of  charity,  nor  Jesuit,  in  all  Mexico :  they  are  excluded  by 
law.  Says  a  recent  visitor  to  Mexico:  "Religious  proces- 
sions are  proscribed.  The  holy  wafer  is  carried  to  dying 
people  no  longer  in  a  gilded  coach,  but  in  a  private  car- 
riage, the  bared  head  of  the  driver  being  the  only  sign  by 
which  the  faithful  can  know  it.  So  great  has  the  irrever- 
ence grown,  that  a  native,  pointing  to  the  sagrario,  where 
the  gilded  coach  is  still  kept,  said  to  me,  'They  keep  in 
there  what  they  call  the  Holy  Ghost  coach,  but  I  call  it 
the  hell-cart.'  " 

The  president  has  assured  Protestant  religious  workers 
from  the  United  States  that  their  property  and  life  shall  be 
protected,  if  necessary,  by  the  entire  civil  and  military 
power  of  the  republic.  Thirty  years  ago  the  Romish 
church  in  Mexico,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  its  com- 
municants, was  richer  than  anywljere  else  in  the  world. 
She  held  two  thirds  of  the  property  of  the  city  of  Mexico. 
Mortgages  were  held  by  her  over  a  large  portion  of  the 
country.  She  controlled  the  money  and  landed  interest  of 
all  the  great  centres  of  trade ;  and  convents  covering  hun- 
dreds of  acres  were  adorned  with  the  highest  art.  The 
church  was  rich,  elegant,  luxurious,  but  corru^jt.  The  gov- 
ernment deemed  it  necessary  for  the  public  good  to  crush 
this  gigantic  worldly  power  which  had  intrenched  itself 
under  the  name  of  religion.  This  was  done.  To-day  the 
Romish  church  of  Mexico,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
its  communicants,  is  poorer  than  anywhere  else  in  tlie 
world. 

If  the  government  of  the  United  States  is  wise,  there  will 


III.]  CENTRAL  AMERICA.  125 

be  no  interference  with  this  Mexican  republic.  Her  terri- 
tories are  not  needed  by  us.  We  should  not  be  too  easily- 
provoked  by  a  few  troubles  upon  the  borders.  Mexico  has 
untold  resources.  When  they  are  developed  she  may  be- 
come, what  will  not  harm  us,  a  grand  rival  republic ;  and 
at  some  time  she  may  prove  a  needed  and  powerful  ally  in 
maintaining  republican  institutions  upon  this  continent. 

"  Thou  Italy  of  the  Occident, 
Glorious,  gory  Mexico ! " 

II.  Central  Amekica.  —  Central  America,  properly  be- 
longing to  North  America,  lying  between  the  parallels  of 
about  7°  and  18°  north  latitude,  has  an  area,  according 
to  Behm,  of  a  ti'ifle  above  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight 
thousand  square  miles.  In  1502  Columbus  sailed  along 
the  east  coast,  but  his  landing  being  opposed  by  both  his 
crew  and  the  natives,  he  returned  to  Spain.  In  1523  Pedro 
Alvarado,  under  the  command  of  Cortez,  undertook  the 
conquest  of  the  country,  and  within  two  years  brought  it 
into  complete  subjection. 

At  that  time  Central  America  was  known  as  the  kingdom 
of  Guatemala.  In  its  tropical  and  tangled  forests  were  the 
massive  ruins  of  Aztec  cities,  which  displayed  wonderful 
skill  in  both  design  and  architecture.  Central  America, 
in  common  with  Mexico,  was  for  three  centuries  under 
Spanish  domination.  After  the  revolution  of  1821  it  was 
attached  to  the  Mexican  kingdom  under  Iturbide,  but  be- 
came free  at  his  abnegation.  In  1823  the  four  states 
of  Guatemala,  Honduras,  Nicaragua,  and  San  Salvador, 
formed  an  independent  federal  union,  under  the  name 
United  States  of  Central  America.     These  states  did  not 


126  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

long  cohere,  and  five  indeiDendent  republics  took  the  place 
of  the  confederation.  In  passing  south  from  Mexico  we 
enter  first  — 

1.  Tlie  Republic  of  Guatemala. — It  was  established  in 
1839,  and  is  at  present  governed  under  a  constitution  pro- 
claimed in  1859.  There  are  thirteen  provinces  or  states, 
vv^ith  a  population  of  nearly  one  million  tAvo  hundred 
thousand.  By  the  terms  of  the  constitution  the  legislative 
power  is  vested  in  a  Congi'ess  of  two  chambers,  called  the 
Council  of  State  and  the  House  of  Representatives,  the 
first  consisting  of  twenty-four  and  the  second  of  fifty-two 
members.  Both  chambers  are  elected  for  four  years,  the 
House  of  Representatives  by  the  people,  and  the  Council  of 
State  by  the  House.  The  executive  is  vested  in  a  President, 
elected  for  four  years.  Since  1871,  when  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic church  party  was  driven  from  power,  there  have  been 
several  irregular  presidential  elections. 

Bounding  Guatemala  upon  the  southeast,  is  — 

2.  The  Republic  of  Honduras.  —  It  was  established  in 
1839,  on  the  dissolution  of  the  confederation  of  Central 
America,  has  a  population  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand, and  is  governed  under  a  constitution  proclaimed  No- 
vember, 1865.  There  are  seven  states.  The  constitution 
gives  the  legislative  power  to  a  Congress  of  two  houses, 
called,  the  Senate  and  the  Chamber  of  Deputies.  The 
Senate  consists  of  seven  members,  three  of  whom  are 
elected  annually,  and  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  of  fourteen 
members,  one  half  of  whom  are  elected  annually.  The 
executive  authority  rests  with  a  President,  elected  for  four 
years. 

There  have  been  no  regular  elections  of  Presidents  in 


III.]  CENTRAL  AMERICA.  127 

recent  years,  and  no  President  has  served  the  full  term 
of  his  office.  The  predecessor  of  Don  Crecencio  Gomez, 
Don  Ponciano  Leiva,  succeeded  Don  Celeo  Arias,  elected 
1872,  who,  in  consequence  of  an  invasion  of  the  republic 
by  the  troops  of  San  Salvador,  fled  from  the  capital  and 
was  deprived  of  power  February,  1874.  The  same  troops 
deposed,  in  a  preceding  invasion,  May,  1872,  General  Me- 
dina, predecessor  of  Don  Celeo  Arias,  elected  President  in 
1870. 

The  administration  of  the  republic  is  candied  on  by  a 
Council  of  State,  composed  of  two  ministers  appointed  by 
the  President,  one  senator  elected  by  both  houses  of  Con- 
gi-ess,  and  the  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court.  The  resources 
of  the  country  are  rich,  but  are  almost  entirely  undevel- 
oped. 

South  of  Honduras  and  east  of  Guatemala  is  — 

3.  The  Republic  of  San  Salvador.  —  It  was  erected  into  an 
independent  state  in  1853,  when  it  dissolved  its  federative 
union  with  the  other  states  of  Central  America.  It  has  five 
provinces,  a  population  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand, 
an  area  of  nine  thousand  six  hundred  square  miles,  and  is 
governed  nominally  under  a  constitution  proclaimed  March, 
1864.  The  constitution,  which  has  undergone  frequent 
alterations  through  internecine  wars,  vests  the  legislative 
power  in  a  Congress  of  two  houses,  the  Senate,  composed 
of  twelve,  and  the  House  of  Representatives,  composed  of 
twenty-four  members.  The  executive  is  in  the  hands  of  a 
President,  originall}'-  elected  for  six  years,  but  whose  tenure 
of  office  was  in  1867  limited  to  four  years. 

The  regular  election  of  the  President  has  in  recent  years 
been  constantly  superseded  by  pronunciamentos  and  mili- 


128  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

taiy  nominations.  The  administrative  affairs  of  the  re- 
public are  carried  on,  under  the  President,  by  a  ministry 
of  two  members,  the  first  being  head  of  the  united  de- 
partments of  the  Interior,  War,  and  Finance,  and  the 
second  of  the  departments  of  Foreign  Affairs  and  Public 
Instruction. 

The  native  population  of  San  Salvador  incline  more  to 
civilized  pursuits  than  the  natives  of  any  neighboring  state. 
The  jDcople  are  largely  engaged  in  agriculture,  in  various 
branches  of  manufacture,  and  to  some  extent  in  mining. 

4.  The  Republic  of  Nicaragua  is  the  next  south,  and 
comprises  six  provinces,  an  area  of  nearly  sixty  thousand 
square  miles,  with  a  population  of  three  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand.  The  constitution  of  the  republic  was  proclaimed 
August  19,  1858.  It  vests  the  legislative  power  in  a  Con- 
gress of  two  houses,  the  upper,  called  the  Senate,  com- 
prising ten  members,  and  the  lower,  called  the  House  of 
Representatives,  having  eleven  members.  Both  branches 
are  elected  by  universal  suffrage,  the  members  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  for  the  term  of  four,  and  those  of  the 
Senate  for  the  term  of  six  years.  The  executive  power  is 
with  a  President  elected  for  four  years,  who  exercises  his 
authority  through  a  council  of  ministers,  controlling  the 
four  departments  of  Finance,  Foreign  Affairs,  Public  In- 
struction, and  War  and  Marine. 

South  of  Nicaragua  is  — 

5.  The  Bepuhlic  of  Costa  Bica.  —  It  has  an  area  a  little 
less  than  twenty  thousand  square  miles,  with  an  estimated 
population  of  one  hundred  and  ninety  t\iousand.  It  has 
been  an  independent  state  since  the  year  1821,  and  is  gov- 
erned under  a  constitution  bearirig  date  December  22,  1871. 


III.]  CENTRAL   AMERICA.  129 

By  its  terms  the  legislative  power  is  vested  in  a  Congress 
of  one  chamber,  called  the  "Congreso  Constitucional," 
chosen  in  electoral  assemblies  by  universal  suftVage,  and 
elected  for  the  term  of  four  years,  one  half  retiring  eveiy 
two  years.  The  executive  authority  is  in  the  hands  of  a 
President,  elected,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  Congress,  for 
the  term  of  four  years.  lie  is  assisted  in  his  functions  by 
two  Vice-Presidents,  elected  annually  in  May,  by  Congress, 
for  the  term  of  one  year. 

There  have  been  couvstant  changes  in  the  executive  in 
recent  years,  owing  to  civil  wars  and  insurrections.  But 
few  Presidents  have  served  the  full  term  of  office. 

The  administration  is  carried  on,  under  the  President,  by 
four  ministers,  namely,  of  the  Interior  and  Justice,  of  Pub- 
lic Instruction  and  Foreign  AlRiirs,  of  Finance  and  Com- 
merce, and  of  Public  Works. 

These  five  republics  in  many  respects  present  a  deplorable 
picture.  There  have  been  repeated,  but  unsuccessful,  at- 
tempts to  restore  the  former  federal  union  of  Central 
America.  With  a  strong  centralized  form  of  government, 
and  the  spread  of  intelligence  among  the  people,  a  republic 
of  great  wealth  and  influence  might  be  erected  in  Central 
America.  At  present  the  population  consists  of  a  few 
whites,  —  who,  owing  to  the  unsettled  condition  of  affairs, 
are  on  the  decrease,  —  the  offspring  of  whites  and  negroes, 
the  offspring  of  whites  and  Indians,  aboriginal  natives,  and 
a  few  negroes.  Almost  the  entire  population  is  ignorant, 
immoral,  and  superstitious. 

These  republics  are  also  irretrievably  bankrupt.  Guate- 
mala has  a  debt  of  nearly  nine  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
9 


130  FATE  OF  EEPUBLICS.  [part  hi. 

Honduras  has  a  debt  of  upwards  of  seven  millions,  San 
Salvador  one  of  eighty-seven  millions,  Nicaragua  one  of 
two  millions,  and  Costa  Rica  one  of  nearly  four  millions. 
These  debts  are  bonded,  and  were  contracted  in  London. 
The  amount  of  floating  debt  cannot  be  ascertained.  The 
bonds  and  interest  were  long  since  repudiated.  The  pay- 
ment ot  the  annual  interest,  if  made,  would  greatly  exceed 
the  revenue  of  the  states.  The  republics  of  Central  America 
seemingly  cannot  long  remain  in  their  present  condition. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   REPUBLICS    OF    AMERICA    (CONTINUED). 

The  magnitude  of  Spanish  conquests  in  America  during 
the  sixteenth  century  is  one  of  the  wonders  of  history. 
That  Spain  was  able  to  master  and  hold,  for  three  centu- 
ries, the  extended  territories  of  Mexico  and  Central  Amer- 
ica, is  amply  sufficient  to  establish  the  fact  of  her  enterprise 
and  might ;  yet  these  were  only  a  part  of  her  remarkable 
achievements. 

I.  South  America.  —  In  1533,  two  brothers  were  con- 
tending with  each  other  for  the  throne  of  the  ancient 
Peruvian  empire.  Francisco  Pizarro,  a  daring  and  ambi- 
tious Spaniard,  who  rose  from  the  occupation  of  a  swine- 
herd, took  advantage  of  that  fraternal  conflict,  invaded  the 
country,  and  achieved  a  conquest  over  much  of  the  South 
American  continent.  From  that  date  (1533)  until  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century.  South  America  remained 
almost  entirely  a  dependency  of  Spain  and  Portugal. 
Between  1810  and  1820  the  different  Spanish  colonies,  in 
South  America  as  in  Central  America  and  Mexico,  waged 
their  wars  for  independence.  The  Spanish  yoke  was 
thrown  off,  and  the  different  republics  were  formed.  Brazil 
is  at  present  the  only  monarchy  on  the  South  American- 

131 


132  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

continent,  and  is  as  desirable  a  government  to  live  under 
as  is  any  one  of  the  South  American  republics.'*'* 

1.  The  Republic  of  Venezuela  is  the  most  northerly,  and 
was  formed  in  1830,  by  secession  from  the  other  members 
of  the  Free-state  founded  by  Simon  Bolivar  within  the 
limits  of  the  Spanish  colony  of  New  Granada.  The  history 
of  the  republic  is  briefly  this :  The  Spanish  flag  was  cut 
down  in  1811,  and  tlie  tricolor  hoisted.  Miranda  and  Simon 
Bolivar,  who  was  the  ablest  and  most  remarkable  man  in 
the  history  of  the  struggle  which  freed  South  America  from 
the  Spanish  yoke,  took  the  field  at  the  head  of  the  so-termed 
patriot  army:  These  insurgents  were  successful  for  a  year, 
but  in  1812  the  royalists  were  victorious.  In  1813,  Bolivar 
raised  a  new  army,  and  assumed  the  title  of  Dictator  and 
Liberator.  At  this  juncture  the  royalists  determined  upon 
a  "  war  of  death,"  armed  the  negro  slaves,  and  murdered 
the  insurgent  prisoners  by  the  hundred.  Bolivar  thereupon 
retaliated,  shooting  eight  hundred  Spaniards  in  La  Guayra 
and  Caraccas.  The  patriots  were  defeated  in  1814.  Later, 
the  struggles  were  renewed,  and  the  year  1823  witnessed 
the  triumphs  of  the  patriots  and  the  complete  expulsion 
of  the  Spanish  troops. 

The  charter  of  fundamental  laws  now  in  force,  dating 
from  1830,  and  re-proclaimed,  with  alterations,  on  the 
28th  of  March,  1864,  is  modelled  after  the  constitution  of  tlie 
United  States  of  America,  but  with  considerably  more 
independence  secured  to  provincial  and  local  governments. 
The  23rovinces,  or  states,  of  the  republic,  twenty-one  in 
number,  three  of  them  having  territories  attached,  have 
each  their  own  legislature  and  executive,  as  well  as  their 


III.]  SOUTH  AMEIUCA.  133 

own  budgets,  and  judiciary  officers.  The  main  purpose  of 
their  alliance  is  that  of  common  defence. 

The  area  of  the  repulilic  is  upward  of  four  hundred  thou- 
sand square  miles,  with  a  population  of  nearly  two  millions. 

At  the  head  of  the  central  government  is  a  President, 
elected  for  two  years,  who,  aided  by  a  Vice-President,  exer- 
cises his  functions  through  six  ministers.  The  President 
has  no  veto  power.  The  legislation  for  the  whole  republic 
is  vested  in  a  Congress  of  two  houses,  called  the  Senate 
and  the  House  of  Representatives,  both  composed  of  mem- 
bers deputed  by  the  same  bodies  in  the  individual  states. 
The  President,  Vice-President,  and  congresses  of  states, 
are  elected  by  universal  suffrage.  Since  1847,  the  republic 
has  suffered  greatly  from  internal  dissensions,  leading 
to  almost  continuous  civil  war.  The  rival  parties  are 
the  Federalists  and  Confederalists,  the  former  desiring  a 
strong  central  government,  and  the  latter  the  greatest 
possible  independence  of  the  separate  states.  The  republic 
has  witnessed  its  gi-eatest  prosperity  at  those  times  when 
the  President  has  exercised  almost  despotic,  at  least  dicta- 
torial, authority.  There  is  a  public  debt  of  a  hundred 
millions  of  dollars. 

On  the  southwest  of  Venezuela  is  — 

2.  The  Fiepublic  of  Colombia,  officially  styled  the  United 
States  of  Colombia.  It  was  formed,  under  the  Convention 
of  Bogota,  1861,  by  the  representatives  of  nine  states  which 
were  previously  a  part  of  Xew  Granada.  The  most  impor- 
tant of  the  nine  states  of  Colombia,  the  state  of  Panama, 
comprises  the  wliole  isthmus  of  that  name,  known  histori- 
cally as  the  Isthmus  of  Darien.  In  1869,  a  treaty  was 
concluded  between   Colombia  and   the   United   States   of 


134  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

America,  which  gave  to  the  latter  the  exckisive  right  to 
construct  an  inter-oceanic  canal  across  the  Isthmus,  at  any 
point  which  maj^  be  selected  by  the  United  States. 

The  area  of  the  republic  is  estimated  at  upwards  of  five 
hundred  thousand  square  miles,  a  little  more  than  one  half 
of  which  is  north,  and  the  remainder  south,  of  the  equator. 
According  to  a  rough  enumeration  taken  in  1871,  the 
population  was  reckoned  at  nearly  three  millions. 

A  constitution,  bearing  date  May  8,  1863,  vests  the  exec- 
utive authority  in  a  President,  elected  for  two  years,  while 
the  legislative  power  rests  with  a  Congress  of  two  houses, 
called  the  Senate  and  the  House  of  Representatives.  The 
Senate,  numbering  twenty-seven  members,  is  composed  of 
representatives  of  the  nine  states,  each  deputing  three 
senators ;  the  House  of  Representatives,  numbering  sixty- 
six  members,  is  elected  by  universal  suffrage,  each  state 
being  a  constituency,  and  returning  one  member  for  fifty 
thousand  inhabitants,  and  a  second  for  every  additional 
twenty  thousand.  Besides  this  central  government,  each 
state  has  its  own  legislature  and  chief  executive  officer,  the 
latter  called  Governor  in  all  except  Panama,  where  he 
bears  the  title  of  President.  The  President  of  Colombia 
has  at  his  side  a  Vice-President,  acting  as  chairman  of 
the  Senate,  and  his  executive  functions  are  exercised 
through  four  ministers,  or  secretaries,  responsible  to  Con- 
gi-ess.  The  first  head  of  the  executive  government  of 
Colombia,  after  its  establishment  as  a  federative  republic, 
was  General  Thomas  Mosquera,  who  acted  as  Dictator 
from  September  20,  1861,  until  the  proclamation  of  the 
constitution  of  1863,  under  which  Don  Manuel  Murillo  Toro 
was  elected  President  for  two  years,  commencing  April  1, 


iii.J  SOUTH  AMERICA.  135 

1864.  General  Mosquera  was  next  chosen  President,  but 
before  his  term  of  office  had  expired  he  came  into  conflict 
with  Congress,  and  on  the  23d  of  May  was  deposed  and 
imprisoned,  his  place  being  filled  provisionally  by  the  Vice- 
President,  General  Santos  Gutierrez,  who  was  subsequently 
elected  President  for  the  next  term.  From  1872  to  1875, 
the  executive  underwent  constant  changes  in  consequence 
of  uninterrupted  civil  warfare. 

The  public  debt  was  reported  at  upwards  of  fifty-three 
millions  in  1877,  three-fourths  of  which  was  due  to  British 
creditors,  who  hold  as  security  on  mortgage  the  chief 
source  of  revenue  of  the  republic  —  that  derived  from  the 
customs.  The  interior  debt  was  estimated  at  over  twenty 
millions. 

The  two  contending  parties  are  the  Federalists  and  the 
Liberalists,  with  an  apparent  gain  of  late  years  among  the 
Liberalists. 

South  of  Colombia  is  — 

3.  Tlie  Republic  of  Ecuador. — This  republic  embraces  a 
part  of  the  territory  ruled  anciently  by  the  Quitus,  a  civil- 
ized race  kindred  in  many  respects  to  the  Quichuas  or 
Incas  of  Peru.  The  valley  of  Quito,  with  those  of  Mexico 
and  Cuzco,  was  one  of  the  earliest  seats  of  American  civil- 
ization. The  republic  of  Ecuador  was  constituted  May  11, 
1830,  in  consequence  of  a  civil  war  which  separated  the 
members  of  the  Central  American  Free-state,  founded  by 
Bolivar  upon  the  ruins  of  the  Spanish  kingdom  of  New 
Granada.  There  are  ten  states  with  an  area  of  nearly  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  square  miles,  and  a  population 
of  something  over  a  million.  Not  included  in  this  estimate 
are  the  Galapagos,  or  Tortoise  Islands,  with  an  area  of 


136  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

nearly  three  thousand  square  miles,  now  mostly  deserted, 
which  belong  to  Ecuador.  The  capital  of  the  republic, 
Quito,  has  an  estimated  population  of  eighty  thousand. 

By  the  constitution  of  Ecuador,  dated  March  31,  1843,  the 
executive  is  vested  in  a  President,  elected  for  the  term  of 
four  years,  while  the  legislative  power  is  given  to  a  Con- 
gress of  two  houses,  the  first  consisting  of  eighteen  senators 
and  the  second  of  tliirty  deputies,  both  elected  by  universal 
suffrage.  The  Congress  must  assemble  on  the  15th  of  Sep- 
tember of  every  year  at  Quito,  Avithout  being  summoned  by 
the  government.  The  nomination  of  the  President  takes 
place,  in  an  indirect  manner,  by  nine  hundred  electors, 
returned  by  the  people  for  that  purpose.  The  electors, 
together  with  the  President,  appoint  a  Vice-President,  who, 
in  certain  cases,  may  be  called  upon  by  Congress  to  succeed 
the  President  before  his  term  of  office  ends.  The  Vice- 
President  also  fills  the  position  of  Minister  of  the  Interior. 

Don  Jose  de  Veintemilla  was  elected  President  Septem- 
ber 8,  1876,  and  was  appointed  Dictator,  for  an  unlimited 
period,  by  a  convention,  July  10.  1878.  The  President 
exercises  his  functions  through  a  cabinet  of  three  ministers, 
who,  together  with  himself  and  the  Vice-President,  are 
responsible,  individually  and  collectively,  to  Congress. 
There  is  no  power  of  veto  with  the  President,  nor  can  he 
dissolve,  shorten,  or  prorogue  the  sittings  of  Congi*ess.  By 
the  terms  of  the  constitution,  no  citizen  can  enjoy  titular  or 
other  distinctions.  No  hereditary  rights  or  privileges  of 
rank  and  race  are  allowed  to  exist  within  the  temtory  of 
the  republic. 

There  is  a  public  debt  of  nearly  seventeen  millions. 

The  Republic  of  Ecuador  is  thoroughly  Roman  Catholic. 


ra.J  SOUTH  AMERICA.  137 

The  public  services  of  no  other  religion  are  allowed.  Edu- 
cation is  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  priests.  Conflicts 
between  the  church  and  the  liberal  parties,  insurrections, 
revolutions,  and  wars  with  sister  republics,  during  late 
years,  have  made  it  necessary  to  convert  the  President  into 
a  Dictator. 

Bounding  Ecuador  upon  the  south  is  — 

4.  The  Repuhlic  of  Peru.  —  When  Peru  was  discovered 
by  the  Spaniards,  early  in  the  sixteenth  century,  it  was 
occupied  by  two  races,  comparatively  civilized  and  of 
common  origin,  the  Quichuas  and  the  Aymaras.  The  popu- 
lation at  that  time  has  been  estimated  as  high  as  thirty 
millions.  The  history  of  the  yet  earlier  inhabitants  is  not 
written,  except  in  the  ruins  of  massive  blocks  of  cut  stone, 
l)yramidal  structures  of  vast  proportions,  fragments  of  im- 
mense stone  bridges  and  aqueducts  of  more  than  a  hundred 
miles  length,  and  paved  roads,  one  of  which  can  be  traced 
from  Cuzco  to  Quito,  a  distance  of  a  thousand  miles. 

After  the  conquest  by  Francisco  Pizarro  and  Diego 
Almagro,  the  country  was  in  a  state  of  constant  anarchy, 
gi'owing  out  of  the  insun-ections  of  the  natives  and  civil 
wars  between  the  conquerors  themselves.  A  vice-royalty 
was  at  length  established,  under  which  the  countiy  was 
governed  until  1821.  During  that  period,  Peru  was  made 
the  chief  seat  of  the  Spanish  Transatlantic  Empire.  Lima, 
the  capital,  attained  such  splendor,  that  it  was  styled  "  the 
City  of  the  Kings."  In  1820,  San  Martin,  of  Chili,  came 
at  the  head  of  an  invading  army,  and  a  year  later  pro- 
claimed himself  Protector  of  Peru.  At  the  request  of  San 
Martin,  Simon  Bolivar  entered  Peru,  and  in  1822  took  pos- 
session of  Lima.     He  was  appointed  Dictator,  and  at  the 


138  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

head  of  a  Colombian  and  Peruvian  army  defeated  the  Span- 
iards, first  at  Junin,  and  later,  with  signal  success,  at 
Ayacucho.  In  1836,  the  Peru-Bolivian  Confederation  was 
formed,  under  the  presidency  of  a  Bolivian,  Santa  Cruz,  but 
was  overthrown  in  1839.  A  succession  of  civil  wars  and 
constitutional  changes  followed,  during  a  period  of  nearly 
thirty  years.  The  present  constitution,  proclaimed  August 
31,  1867,  is  modelled  after  that  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  the  legislative  power  being  vested  in  a  Senate 
and  a  House  of  Representatives,  the  former  composed  of 
deputies  of  the  provinces,  two  for  each,  and  the  latter  of 
representatives  nominated  by  the  electoral  colleges  of  prov- 
inces and  parishes,  at  the  rate  of  one  member  for  every 
twenty  thousand  inhabitants.  The  parochial  electoral  col- 
leges choose  deputies  to  the  provincial  colleges,  who  in 
turn  send  representatives  to  Congress.  In  the  session  of 
1876,  the  Senate  was  composed  of  forty-four  members,  and 
the  House  of  Representatives  of  one  hundred  and  ten 
members.  The  executive  power  is  vested  in  a  President, 
assisted  by  a  Vice-President,  both  elected  by  the  people 
for  the  term  of  four  years.  The  President  exercises  his 
functions  through  a  cabinet  of  five  ministers,  holding  ofiice 
at  his  pleasure.  The  departments  are  those  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  of  the  Interior,  of  Justice,  of  Finance  and  Com- 
merce, and  of  War  and  the  Navy. 

By  the  terms  of  the  constitution,  there  exists  absolute 
political,  but  not  religious  freedom,  the  charter  j^roliibiting 
the  public  exercise  of  any  other  religion  than  the  Roman 
Catholic,  which  is  declared  to  be  the  religion  of  the  state. 

The  republic  is  divided  into  twenty-one  states,  with  an 
area  of  over  five  hundred  thousand  square  miles,  and  a 


m,]  SOUTH  AMERICA.  139 

population,  according  to  a  census  taken  in  1876,  of  upwards 
of  two  and  a  half  millions.  It  is  estimated  that  fifty-seven 
per  cent,  of  the  population  of  Peru  are  aborigines,  and 
twenty-three  per  cent,  belong  to  mixed  races,  "Cholos" 
and  '*  Zambos."  The  remaining  twenty  per  cent,  are  di- 
vided among  descendants  of  Spaniards,  Negroes,  Chinese, 
and  Europeans,  the  latter  fomiing  barely  two  per  cent,  of 
the  total  population,  comprising  chiefly  Italians  and  Ger- 
mans. At  the  enumeration  of  1876,  the  population  of  the 
capital,  Lima,  wa&  returned  at  one  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand.        ^ 

There  is  a  bonded  debt  of  fifty  millions,  with  a  floating 
debt  of  unknown  amount.  Frequent  wars,  civil  insurrec- 
tions, changes  of  constitution,  assassinations  of  political 
leaders,  bankruptcy,  financial  prostration,  and  .Roman  Cath- 
olic domination,  are  the  blight  of  the  Peruvian  Republic. 

5.  The  Bepuhlic  of  Bolivia. — The  territory  now  occupied 
by  this  republic  formed,  until  1825,  the  southern  province 
of  Peru.  At  that  date  it  was  organized  into  a  separate 
republic  by  Bolivar.  The  constitution  di*awn  up  by  this 
liberator  underwent  important  modifications  in  1828,  1831, 
and  1863.  There  are  eleven  states  in  the  republic,  having 
an  area  of  nearly  eight  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  square 
miles,  and  a  population  closely  approximating  two  millions. 
The  Indian  population  has  been  estimated  as  high  as  seven 
hundred  thousand.  The  republic  has  but  one  seaport,  the 
town  of  Cobija-Puerto,  on  the  Pacific.  Till  within  the  last 
few  years,  the  vast  agi'icultural  and  mineral  resources  of 
the  counti-y  were  entirely  dormant,  for  want  of  means  of 
communication.     The  seat  of  the  government,  formerly  at 


140  FATE   OF   REPUBLICS.  [part 

the  city  of  La  Paz,  capital  of  the  republic,  was  transferred 
in  1869  to  the  fortified  town  of  Oruro. 

About  one-half  of  the  public  revenue  is  derived  from  a 
land  tax,  which  the  aboriginal,  or  Indian,  population  is 
forced  to  pay,  and  the  rest  from  import  and  export  duties, 
and  the  jn-oceeds  of  mines  and  other  state  property.  Direct 
taxes  do  not  exist.  The  public  debt,  internal  and  foreign, 
was  estimated  in  June,  1879,  at  thirty  millions. 

By  the  provisions  of  the  present  constitution,  the  execu- 
tive power  is  vested  in  a  President,  elected  for  a  term  of 
four  years;  while  the  legislative  authority^ rests  with  a 
Congress  of  two  chambers,  called  the  Senate  and  the  House 
of  Representatives,  both  elected  by  universal  suffrage.  The 
President  is  assisted  b}^  a  President  of  the  Council,  or  Vice- 
President,  appointed  by  himself,  and  a  ministry,  divided 
into  four  departments :  of  the  Interior  and  Foreign  Affairs, 
of  Finance  and  Industry,  of  War,  and  of  Justice  and  Public 
Worship.  The  fundamental  law  of  the  republic,  ordering 
the  election  of  a  Pi*esident  every  four  years,  has  seldom 
been  complied  with  since  the  presidency  of  Grand  Marshal 
Santa  Cruz,  who  ruled  Bolivia  from  May,  1828,  till  his 
death,  January  20,  1839.  Subsequently,  the  supreme  power 
has  almost  invariably  been  seized  by  some  successful  com- 
mander, who,  proclaimed  President  by  the  troops,  instead 
of  chosen  by  the  people,  has  been  compelled  to  protect  his 
office  by  an  armed  force  against  insurrections  and  militaiy 
rivals.  From  1867  to  1870  there  was  an  almost  uninter- 
rupted civil  war,  which  reached  its  height  in  1869,  when 
General  Malgarejo  for  a  time  assumed  tlie  government, 
after  an  unsuccessful  attempt  at  insurrection  by  a  rival 
candidate.  General  Belzu,  head  of  the  government  from 


III.]  SOUTH  AMERICA.  141 

March  22  to  his  execution,  March  27,  1869.  The  next 
President  was  General  Ballivian,  who  died  February  14, 
1874,  and  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Thomas  Frias,  head  of  the 
government  till  the  outbreak  of  a  new  insurrection,  May  4, 
1876,  at  which  time  he  was  deposed  by  the  troops,  and 
General  Daza  became  Dictator. 

Southeast  of  Bolivia  is  — 

6.  The  Republic  of  Paraguay.  —  This  territory  was  dis- 
covered by  Sebastian  Cabot,  late  in  1526,  while  seeking  a 
more  direct  route  to  Peru.  It  was  then  quite  thickly  set- 
tled by  the  Payagua  Indians.  In  1536,  an  expedition  as- 
cended the  Paraguay  River  and  established  a  settlement  at 
Asuncion,  which  has  continued  to  the  present  time.  The 
first  European  ruler  was  Martinez  de  Grala,  who  governed 
with  great  energy  and  courage,  made  himself  respected  by 
the  Indians,  encouraged  his  men  to  marry  native  women, 
and  then  compelled  them  to  respect  their  marital  vows. 
The  result  was  a  veiy  rapid  increase  of  population.  In 
1610,  the  Jesuits  established  mission-stations  at  all  impor- 
tant points,  and  succeeded  in  gaining  control  of  most  of  the 
Guarani  Indians.  The  Jesuits  learned  the  native  language, 
and  then  jealously  guarded  the  country  from  all  intrusion, 
being  armed  by  a  royal  order  from  Spain,  forbidding  even 
Spaniards  to  visit  the  state  without  permission.  In  1767, 
the  Jesuits  became  such  intolerable  nuisances  that  they 
were  expelled  from  the  Spanish  colonies  of  South  America, 
including  Paraguay.  Their  splendid  churches  and- palatial 
residences  thereupon  fell  into  other  hands.  The  republic 
of  Paraguay  gained  its  independence  from  Spanish  rule  in 
1811,  and  after  a  short  government  by  two  consuls,  the 
supreme  power  was  seized,  in  1815,  by  Dr.  Jose  Gaspar 


142  FATE  OF  EEPUBLICS.  [part 

Rodriguez  Francia,  who  exercised  autocratic  sway  as  Dic- 
tator, till  his  death,  September  20,  1840. 

"The  country  being  accessible  only  by  way  of  the  river, 
he  stopped  all  ingress  and  egress,  allowing,  during  all  this 
time,  only  some  half  dozen  foreigners  to  leave  the  coun- 
try, and  none  to  enter  it.  The  shipping  then  in  the  river 
stayed  there,  rotted,  and  fell  to  pieces.  He  died  in  the  year 
1840,  and  as  for  nearly  thirty  years  no  freedom  of  expres- 
sion or  thought  had  been  permitted,  and  the  better  class  of 
people  had  generally  been  destroyed,  the  nation,  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  was  left  not  only  without  a  government, 
but  without  its  forms.  The  will  of  Francia  had  so  long 
been  the  supreme  law,  that  when  he  died  there  was  no 
authority  left,  no  one  to  give  an  order,  and  no  one  to  exe- 
cute it  if  given.  The  soldiers,  who  had  obeyed  Francia 
implicitly,  recognized  no  other  ruler,  and  were  glad  to 
disappear  from  sight."  As  might  be  expected,  Dr.  Fran- 
cia's  reign  was  followed  by  a  state  of  anarchy,  which  lasted 
till  1842,  when  a  National  Congress,  meeting  at  the  capital 
of  Asuncion,  elected  two  nephews  of  the  Dictator,  Don 
Alonso  and  Don  Carlos  Antonio  Lopez,  joint  consuls  of  the 
republic.  Another  Congress,  March  13,  1844,  voted  a  new 
constitution,  and,  March  14,  elected  Don  Carlos  Antonio 
Lopez  sole  President,  with  dictatorial  powers,  which  were 
continued  by  another  election,  March  14,  1857.  At  the 
death  of  Don  Carlos,  September  10,  1862,  his  son,  Don 
Francisco  Solano  Lopez,  succeeded  to  the  supreme  power, 
by  testamentary  order,  without  opposition.  President  Lopez, 
in  1865,  began  a  dispute  with  the  government  of  Brazil, 
the  consequence  of  which  was  the  invasion  of  the  republic, 
in  1865,  by  a  Brazilian  army,  united  with  forces  of  the 


in.]  SOUTH  AMEKICA.        ^  143 

Argentine  Confederation  and  Uruguay.  After  a  struggle 
of  live  years,  Lopez  was  defeated  and  killed  in  the  battle 
of  Aquidaban,  1870.  A  Congress,  meeting  at  Asuncion  in 
June,  1870,  voted  a  new  constitution,  which  was  publicly 
proclaimed  November  25th  of  the  same  year.  The  consti- 
tution is  modelled  closely  on  that  of  the  Argentine  Confed- 
eration, the  legislative  authority  being  vested  in  a  Congress 
of  two  Houses,  a  Senate  and  a  House  of  Deputies,  and  the 
executive  being  intrusted  to  a  President,  elected  for  the 
term  of  six  years,  with  a  non-active  Vice-President  at  his 
side.  The  President  exercises  his  authority  through  a 
Cabinet  of  five  Ministers,  who  preside  over  the  departments 
of  the  Interior,  of  Finance,  of  Worship  and  Public  Instruc- 
tion, of  War  and  Navy,  and  of  Foreign  AflEiiirs. 

The  area  of  the  republic,  prior  to  1870,  was  claimed  to 
be  over  a  hundred  thousand  square  miles.  But  the  new 
boundaries  imposed  by  the  conquerors  in  the  war  of 
1865-70,  reduced  the  area  to  a  little  upward  of  fifty-seven 
thousand  square  miles.  The  present  estimated  population 
is  nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand.  About  one-third 
of  the  inhabitants  are  living  in  the  central  province,  the 
rest  being  scattered  as  settlers  over  the^-emaining  portion 
of  cultivated  country.  Nearly  three-fourths  of  the  entire 
territory  are  national  property.  The  republic  is  hopelessly 
and  irretrievably  insolvent. 

Next  south  is  — 

7.  The  Argentine  Bepublic.  —  Sebastian  Cabot,  in  1530, 
explored  the  river  La  Plata  in  the  interest  of  Spain,  and  in 
1580  Garay,  another  enterprising  Spaniard,  founded  the  city 
of  Buenos  Ayres.  The  early  colonies  of  this  part  of  South 
America  were  attached  at  first  to  the  vice-royalty  of  Peru. 


144  ,    FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

The  Argentine  provinces  freed  themselves  from  the  Spanish 
yoke  in  1810,  but  were  immediately  embroiled  in  disputes 
and  contentions  among  themselves.  The  first  hastily- 
formed  union  continued  but  one  year,  being  dissolved  in 
1827.  In  1835  Rosas  became  Captain-general  of  the  con- 
federacy, and  with  an  iron  hand  crushed  anarchy  and  for 
a  time  restored  peace.  Foreign  complications  brought  an 
Anglo-French  fleet  against  Rosas,  who  suffered  loss  but  was 
not  defeated.  Brazil,  Uruguay,  and  Paraguay  next  waged 
war  against  him,  and  in  1851,  upon  the  plains  of  Moron,  he 
was  utterly  defeated.  Since  that  date  insurrection  and 
anarchy,  often  secretly  encouraged  by  neighboring  states, 
have  prevailed. 

The  present  constitution  bears  date  May  15, 1853.  There 
are  fourteen  states,  with  an  area  of  five  hundred  and  fifteen 
thousand  seven  hundred  square  miles,  having  a  popu- 
lation of  nearly  two  millions.  Not  quite  one  in  seventy  is 
able  to  read  and  write.  The  capital  of  the  confederation, 
Buenos  Ayi'es,  has  a  population  of  a  few  less  than  two  hun- 
dred thousand.  The  immigrants,  the  gi-eat  majority  of 
whom  are  natives  of  Italy  and  Spain,  numbered,  in  1877, 
twenty-eight  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eight,  and  in 
1878  they  numbered  thirty-five  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
seventy-six. 

The  bonded  debt  of  the  confederacy  amounts  to  sixty- 
five  millions,  with  a  floating  debt  of  twenty  millions.  Be- 
sides this,  each  state  is  groaning  under  heavy  taxation  and 
is  deeply  involved  in  bankruptcy. 

By  the  provisions  of  the  present  constitution  the  execu- 
tive power  is  vested  in  a  President,  elected  for  six  years  by 
representatives  of  the  fourteen  provinces,  one  hundred  and 


III.]  SOUTH  AMERICA.  145 

thirty-three  in  number.  The  legislativ^e  authority  is  vested 
in  a  National  Congi'ess,  consisting  of  a  Senate  and  a  House 
of  Deputies,  the  former  numbering  twenty-eight,  two  from 
each  state,  and  the  hitter  numbering  fifty  members.  A 
Vice-President,  elected  in  the  same  manner  and  at  tlie  same 
time  as  the  President,  is  cliairman  of  the  Senate,  but  has 
otherwise  no  political  power.  The  President  is  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  troops,  and  appoints  to  all  civil,  military, 
and  judicial  offices. 

The  ministry,  appointed  by  and  acting  under  the  ordei*s 
of  the  President,  is  divided  into  five  departments,  namely, 
of  the  Interior,  Foreign  Affairs,  Finance,  War,  and  Edu- 
cation. 

The  governors  of  the  various  provinces  are  invested  with 
very  extensive  powers,  and  to  a  certain  degree  are  inde- 
pendent of  the  central  executive. 

East  of  the  Argentine  Republic  is  — 

8.  The  Republic  of  Uruguay.  —  The  first  European  settle- 
ment in  that  section  of  South  America  was  made  by  Spanish 
Jesuits  in  1622.  Later  colonies  were  formed  by  both  Span- 
iards and  Portuguese.  For  nearly  two  centuries  the  state 
was  a  subject  of  almost  constant  contention  between  Brazil 
and  Buenos  Ayres.  In  1828,  by  the  mediation  of  England, 
the  northern  part,  known  as  the  Seven  Missions,  was  ceded 
to  Brazil,  and  the  southern  part  was  erected  into  the  Re- 
public of  Uruguay. 

Her  present  constitution  was  proclaimed  July  18,  1831. 
By  its  terms  the  legislative  power  is  vested  in  a  parliament 
composed  of  two  houses,  the  Senate  and  the  Clmmber  of 
Representatives,  which  meet  in  annual  session,  extending 
from  February  15  to  the  end  of  June.  In  the  interval  of 
10 


146  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

the  session,  a  permanent  committee  of  two  senators  and 
five  members  of  the  Lower  House  assume  the  legislative 
power,  as  well  as  the  general  control  of  the  administration. 

The  executive  is  given  by  the  constitution  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  republic,  elected  for  a  term  of  four  years.  A 
Vice-President,  also  elected  for  four  years,  is  at  the  head  of 
the  Senate,  but  has  no  other  political  power. 

Colonel  L.  Latorre,  formerly  Minister  of  War  and  Ma- 
rine, was,  March  18,  1876,  elected  President,  with  dictatorial 
powers. 

The  President  is  assisted  in  his  executive  duties  by  a 
council  of  ministers  who  manage  the  departments  of  the 
Interior,  of  Foreign  Aftairs,  of  Finance,  of  War  and  Ma- 
rine. The  area  of  Uruguay  is  estimated  at  nearly  seventy- 
five  thousand  square  miles,  with  a  population  numbering 
four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  according  to  the  calcula- 
tion of  M.  Vaillant,  registrar-general,  published  in  1873. 
The  country  is  divided  into  thirteen  states.  The  capital, 
Montevideo,  has,  according  to  a  rough  enumeration,  a 
population  of  a  few  over  one  hundred  thousand,  of  whom 
about  one  third  are  foreigners.  Immigration  reached  the 
highest  number  in  1870,  w^hen  there  were  upwards  of 
twenty  thousand. 

The  debt  of  Uruguay,  in  view  of  its  limited  available 
resources,  is  enormous,  being  not  far  from  fifty  millions. 
The  notes  of  the  circulating  banks  are  under  state  guar- 
anty, with  forced  cyiiTcncy.  Paper  money  is  constantly  on 
the  increase  in  amount,  but  is  constantly  decreasing  in  its 
purchasing  power. 

Uruguay  during  the  period  of  her  freedom  has  been  a 
constiint  sufi'erer.     The  unsettled  state  of  the  national  char- 


III.]  SOUTH  AMERICA.  147 

acter,  the  conflicts  between  the  conservatism  of  the  old 
Spanish  and  Roman  Cathohc  ideas,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  wild  radicahsm  of  ambitious  political  adventurers  on 
the  other,  have  kept  the  state  in  a  high  fever,  and  have 
enabled  those  who  were  disposed  grossly  to  victimize  the 
people. 

A  long,  narrow  tract,  bounded  east  by  the  Andes  and 
west  by  the  Pacific  ocean,  extending  from  latitude  24°  to 
43°,  is  the  territory  embraced  by  — 

9.  The  Republic  of  Chili. — At  the  time  of  Pizarro's  con- 
quests. Chili  formed  a  part  of  the  dominion  of  the  Peruvian 
empire.  In  1535  Almagro  and  Valdivia,  successors  of  Pi- 
zarro,  invaded  the  country,  and  conquered  all  the  inhabi- 
tants except  the  Araucanians,  whom  the  Spaniards  were 
never  successful  in  bringing  into  subjection.  In  1810  the 
Chilians  revolted  against  the  king  of  Spain,  and  a  junta, 
which  met  at  Santiago,  elected  the  Marquis  de  la  Plate,  a 
native  Chilian,  President  of  the  republic.  In  1818  the  in- 
dependence of  Chili  was  formally  proclaimed  by  Bernerdo 
O'Higgins,  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  Chilian  patriots. 

The  constitution,  voted  by  the  representatives  of  the  na- 
tion in  1833,  establishes  three  departments  of  state  —  the 
legislative,  the  executive,  and  the  judicial.  The  legislative 
power  is  vested  in  two  assemblies,  called  the  Senate  and 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies.  The  Senate  is  composed  of 
tAventy  members,  elected  for  the  term  of  nine  years.  The 
Chamber  of  Deputies,  chosen  for  a  period  of  three  years^ 
consists  of  one  representative  for  every  twenty  thousand 
of  the  population.  The  executive  is  exercised  by  a  Pres- 
ident, elected  for  a  term  of  five  years. 

The  President  is  chosen  by  indirect  election.    The  people, 


148  "^  •'^**-*'  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

in  the  first  instance,  nominate  their  delegates  by  ballot,  and 
the  latter,  in  their  turn,  appoint  the  chief  executive  of  the 
state.  The  President  is  assisted  by  a  Council  of  State,  and 
a  cabinet,  divided  into  five  departments.  The  Council  of 
State,  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  republic,  consists 
of  the  ministers,  two  judges,  one  ecclesiastical  dignitary, 
one  general  or  admiral,  and  five  other  members. 

Chili  is  divided  into  sixteen  states,  of  which  the  aggre- 
gate area  is  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  square  miles, 
containing  in  1875  a  population  exceeding  two  millions. 

Not  included  in  the  above  estimate  are  three  new  prov- 
inces, or  settlements,  —  the  province  of  Biobio,  the  temtory 
of  Angol,  and  the  settlement  of  Arauco,  —  formed  subse- 
quently to  the  last  census,  by  a  law  of  October  13,  1875. 
The  number  of  inhabitants  of  these  districts  is  returned  at 
two  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand.  The  land  of  the  Arau- 
canians,  a  vast  district  on  the  southern  frontier,  claimed  by 
the  republic,  is  calculated  to  embrace  one  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  square  miles,  with  a  population  of  seventy 
thousand. 

While  Roman  Catholicism  is  the  prevailing  creed,  other 
religions  are  protected  by  laws  lately  passed.  Chili  is  po- 
litically the  least  democratic  state  in  the  Western  hemi- 
sphere. In  order  to  vote  for  a  deputy,  one  must  possess 
either  five  hundred  dollars  in  real,  or  one  thousand  dollars 
in  personal  property,  and  nearly  twice  as  much  to  vote  for 
a  senator.  In  Santiago  and  Valparaiso,  where  wealth  is 
gi-eater,  the  qualifying  amount  needs  to  be  doubled.  In 
1848  unsuccessful  attempts  were  made  to  abolish  or  modify 
these  restrictions  upon  suffrage.  The  country  has  suc- 
ceeded   so  well    under  the   prevailing    system    that    any 


III.]  SOUTH  AMERICA. 


change,  it  was  argued,  would  be  attended  with  more  or 
less  peril. 

No  republic  in  South  America  is  watched  at  present  with 
more  interest  than  Chili.  In  her  late  brilliant  victories 
over  Peru  and  Bolivia,  she  has  distinguished  herself  by  a 
courage,  dash,  and  energy  very  unusual  with  the  South 
American  republics.  Indeed,  ever  since  achieving  her  in- 
dependence, seventy  years  ago,  she  has  been  noted  for  the 
intelligent  and  judicious  administration  of  her  affairs,  com- 
pared with  the  governments  by  which  she  is  suiTounded. 
She  has  enjoyed  a  degi-ee  of  peace  and  prosperity  which 
the  other  commonwealths  of  Soutli  America  have  not 
known.  The  republic  is  suflTering,  however,  from  heavy 
indebtedness.  Her  foreign  and  internal  debt  in  September, 
1878,  amounted  to  nearly  seventy  millions,  and  subse- 
quently there  were  large  issues  of  paper  money,  of  un- 
known amount,  to  defray  expenditure  for  the  army. 

Between  the  conservative,  or  Roman  Catholic,  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  liberal,  or  democratic  parties,  who  are 
contending  for  universal  suffrage  and  perfect  religious  tol- 
eration, on  the  other,  arise  bitter  hostilities  whenever  the 
republic  is  at  peace  with  her  neighboring  sister  republics.'*^ 

This  survey  of  the  South  American  republics  cannot  well 
be  concluded  without  a  few  passing  observations.  And 
first,  since  it  is  impossible  for  these  republics  ever  to  pay 
the  full  face  of  their  indebtedness,  the  sooner  they  scale 
down,  pay  what  they  can,  and  then  forever  repudiate  the 
balance,  the  better.  Until  this  is  done?  the  people,  for  the 
greater  part,  will  remain  embarrassed,  thriftless,  and  de- 
moralized. 


150  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

It  likewise  seems  a  matter  of  regret  that  some  man  is 
not  found  mighty  enough  to  step  forward  and  wipe  out  all 
existing  state  governments,  and  organize  a  strong  central 
power  which  would  be  able  to  administer  the  affairs  of  the 
entire  continent.  South  America  needs  not  state  or  sec- 
tional rights,  but  national  unity  and  might.  She  is  precisely 
where  the  jealous  powers  of  Europe  have  gi'eatly  desired 
to  see  the  United  States,  and  precisely  where  the  United 
States  would  be  were  state  rights  and  secession  views  to 
prevail. 

Again,  every  student  of  our  national  welfare  must  also 
regard  it  a  gi-eat  mistake  that  in  1826  the  United  States 
refused  to  take  part  in  the  Panama  congress.  By  that  un- 
fortunate refusal,  in  the  words  of  an  eminent  publicist, 
"  the  new  states  were  removed  from  the  sympathetic  and 
protecting  influence  of  our  example,  and  their  commerce, 
which  we  might  then  have  secured,  passed  into  other  hands 
unfriendly  to  the  United  States." 

Though  in  a  crippled  condition,  these  South  American 
republics  exported  to  Great  Britain,  in  1878,  two  hundred 
million  dollars'  worth  of  their  commodities,  and  imported 
from  Great  Britain  nearly  seventy  millions  of  her  commod- 
ities. There  is  no  good  reason  why  the  United  States 
should  not  have  had  the  benefit  of  this  trade,  npr  why  her 
ships  should  not  have  been  the  carriers ;  —  no  reason  except 
that  our  Congress  is  so  engaged  with  party  machinery  that 
no  time  is  left  for  important  legislation. 

The  most  hopeful  feature  in  the  South  American  repub- 
lics is  that  Roman-Catholicism  is  losing  its  iron  gi'ip  upon 
them.  Recent  legislation,  in  almost  eveiy  instance,  tends 
towards  religious  toleration,  and  Protestant   missions  and 


m.]  HAYTI  AND  SAN  DOMINGO.  151 

schools,  under  missionaries  and  teachers  from  the  United 
States,  are  established  in  nearly  every  republic. 

All  things  considered,  every  friend  of  republican  institu- 
tions may  well  wish  for  such  improved  conditions,  and  such 
a  noble  and  intelligent  population  in  South  America,  as 
will  hasten  the  day  when  a  united,  consolidated,  and  grand 
republic,  a  rival  of  our  own,  shall  absorb  into  itself  Brazil, 
the  only  empire  in  the  Western  hemisphere,  and  extend 
itself  from  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  to  Cape  Horn.  But  if 
the  conditions  and  populations  are  not  what  they  should  be, 
then,  better  one  government,  and  that  —  the  Brazilian  em- 
pire. 

II.  Republics  of  Hayti  and  San  Domingo.  —  Among 
the  group  of  West  India  Islands  is  Hayti.  It  was  discov- 
ered by  Columbus  in  1492,  and  soon  after  was  filled  with 
adventurous  European  settlers  who  were  in  search  of  sud- 
den wealth.  When  the  island  was  discovered,  its  inhabi- 
tants were  supposed  to  number  not  less  than  two  millions. 
Subsequently  the  Spaniards  governed  the  island  in  a  man- 
ner so  cruel  and  barbarous  as  to  result  in  frequent  rebel- 
lions. At  length  the  island  was  almost  completely  depop- 
ulated. Later  (1630),  the  French  recolonized  the  western 
portion.  Later,  the  free  colored  population,  in  many  in- 
stances possessed  of  great  wealth,  being  denied  all  political 
rights,  rebelled,  and  after  various  bloody  struggles,  gained, 
in  1791,  the  rights  of  franchise. 

The  negro  slaves  subsequently  rose  in  rebellion.  They 
were  successful,  and  in  1793  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  island 
were  declared  free  and  equal.  Then  followed  the  brilliant 
military  career  and  administration  of  the   negi'o  pati'iot. 


152  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

Toussaint  TOuvertiire.  The  French  government  can  never 
recover  from  the  guilt  involved  in  its  treachery  and  treat- 
ment of  Toussaint  after  his  capture. 

Hayti  has  had  a  varying  fortune  from  the  time  of  Toussaint 
to  the  present.  She  has  been  successively  under  French, 
English,  and  Spanish  domination.  She  has  been  twice 
declared  an  empire ;  she  has  often  been  under  rival  chiefs, 
and  has  at  three  different  times  (1804,  1825,  and  1858)  de- 
clared her  independence.  At  present  the  island  contains 
the  two  republics  above  mentioned. 

1.  San  Domingo. — This  republic,  founded  in  1844,  is  sit- 
uated upon  the  eastern  part  of  the  island  of  Hayti,  is 
divided  into  five  states,  embraces  nearly  twenty  thousand 
square  miles,  and  has  a  population  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand.  The  inhabitants  of  San  Domingo,  like  their 
neighbors,  the  Haytians,  are  composed  mainly  of  negroes 
and  mulattoes,  though  the  European-descended  inhabitants 
are  quite  numerous,  and  through  their  influence,  the  Span- 
ish is  the  prevailing  speech. 

The  Bay  of  Samana,  on  the  northeast  coast,  one  of  the 
largest  natural  harbors  in  the  world,  thirty  miles  long  and 
ten  miles  broad,  was  ceded,  with  the  surrounding  countiy, 
to  a  company  formed  in  the  United  States,  by  a  treaty 
signed  by  the  President  of  the  republic,  January  10,  1873. 
Under  another  decree,  passed  March  25,  1874,  the  rights  of 
the  company,  on  the  ground  of  non-payment  of  a  stipulated 
annual  rent,  were  confiscated. 

There  is  a  national  debt  exceeding  three  and  a  half 
millions,  contracted  in  London,  though  only  about  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars  were  ever  received  by  the 
republic. 


III.]  HAYTI  AND  SAN  DOMINGO.  153 

San  Domingo  is  governed  under  a  constitution  bearing 
date  November  18,  1844,  re-proclaimed,  with  changes,  No- 
vember 14, 1865,  after  a  revolution  which  expelled  the  troops 
of  Spain,  that  had  held  possession  of  the  country  for  the 
two  previous  years.  By  tlie  terms  of  the  constitution  the 
legislative  power  is  vested  in  a  national  Congress  of  two 
houses,  called  the  Consego  conservador,  and  the  Tribunado, 
the  first  consisting  of  twelve,  and  the  second  of  fifteen 
members.  The  members  of  both  houses  are  chosen  for 
a  term  of  four  years  by  indirect  election,  with  restricted 
suffrage.  The  powers  of  the  National  Congress  are  con- 
fined to  the  general  affairs  of  the  republic.  The  individual 
states  have  separate  legislatures. 

The  executive  of  the  republic  is  vested  in  a  President, 
chosen  by  indirect  election  for  a  term  of  four  years.  Con- 
stant insurrections  have  allowed  very  few  Presidents  to 
serve  the  full  term  of  office.  Don  Ignacio  Gonzales,  April 
12, 1878,  was  proclaimed  President,  with  dictatorial  powers. 
He  was  succeeded  by  Baez,  who  at  last  accounts  had  sur- 
rendered and  resigned. 

The  administrative  affairs  of  the  republic  are  in  charge 
of  a  ministry  appointed  by  the  President,  with  the  approval 
of  the  Consego  conservador.  The  ministry  is  composed  of 
the  heads  of  the  departments  of  the  Interior  and  Police, 
Finance,  Justice,  War  and  Marine,  and  Foreign  Affairs. 

2.  Hayti.  —  This  republic,  formerly  a  French  colony,  is 
situated  upon  the  western  part  of  the  island  of  Hayti,  em- 
braces an  area  of  a  trifle  over  ten  thousand  square  miles, 
is  divided  into  four  states,  and  has,  according  to  the  calcu- 
lation of  the  best  authorities,  a  population  numbering  five 
hundred  and  seventy  thousand,  though,  according  to  late 


164  FATE  OF  llEPUBLrCS.  [part 

official  estimates,  there  is  a  population  of  eight  hundred 
thousand.  There  are  only  a  few  Europeans ;  the  mass  of 
the  population  are  negroes  and  French-speaking  mulattoes. 

The  republic  is  governed  under  a  constitution  proclaimed 
June  14,  1867.  By  its  terms  the  legislative  power  rests  in 
a  National  Assembly,  divided  into  two  chambers,  respec- 
tively called  the  Senate  and  the  House  of  Commons.  The 
members  of  the  House  are  elected  by  the  direct  vote  of  all 
male  citizens  for  the  term  of  three  years.  The  members 
of  the  Senate  are  nominated  for  two  years  by  the  House 
of  Commons  from  a  list  presented  by  the  electoral  college. 
The  executive  power  is  in  the  hands  of  a  President,  who, 
according  to  the  constitution,  must  be  elected  by  the  peo- 
ple, but  in  recent  years  has  generally  been  chosen  by  the 
united  Senate  and  House  of  Commons,  sitting  in  National 
Assembly,  and  in  some  instances  by  the  troops,  and  by 
delegates  of  parties  acting  as  representatives  of  the  people. 
The  nominal  term  of  office  of  the  President  is  four  years, 
but  it  is  generally  cut  short  by  insurrections.  The  admin- 
istration of  the  republic  is  carried  on,  under  the  President, 
by  ministers  who  stand  at  the  head  of  four  departments. 

There  is  a  large  floating  debt,  consisting  chiefly  of  paper 
money  issued  by  successive  governments,  the  great  mass 
of  which  is  enormously  depreciated  by  frequent  repudiation 
and  by  forgery.  There  is  also  a  foreign  debt,  consisting  of 
a  loan  of  nearly  twelve  million  francs,  contracted  at  Paris 
in  1825,  and  of  other  liabilities  incurred  towards  France, 
the  total  amounting  to  upwards  of  thirty  million  francs. 
No  interest  has  for  years  been  paid  on  this  debt.  Never- 
theless, the  government  jssued,  in  Paris,  June,  1875,  with 
partial  success,  a  new  foreign  loan  of  eighty-three  and  a 


III.]  HAYTI  AND  SAN  DOMINGO.  156 

half  million  francs,  the  two  avowed  objects  being  the  ex- 
tinguishment of  the  old  debt,  both  home  and  foreign,  and 
the  construction  of  railways. 

The  political  condition  of  the  entire  group  of  the  West 
India  islands  at  present  is  not  hopeful.  Spain  has  only  a 
questionable  hold  upon  Cuba.  The  two  republics,  San  Do- 
mingo and  Hayti,  have  an  extremely  doubtful  prospect.  A 
glance  at  the  map  is  all  that  is  necessary  to  show,  from 
either  a  commercial,  political,  or  military  point  of  view, 
that  the  power  which  rules  the  "West  Indies  should  not  be 
England,  France,  Spain,  Central  America,  or  South  America, 
but  should  be  the  power  which  rules  the  territories  now 
called  the  United  States  of  America. 


IV. 

UNITED   STATES   OF  AMERICA. 


157 


CHAPTER  I. 

NATIONAL    GOVERNMENT. 

The  limits  and  design  of  this  treatise  forbid  entering 
minutely  into  the  early  history  of  the  United  States.  The 
original  European  settlers  in  New  England,  like  the  foun- 
ders of  the  Israelitish,  Carthaginian,  Venetian,  and  Ice- 
landic republics,  sought  refuge  from  civil  and  religious 
oppression  and  persecution.  Like  most  other  republics, 
the  United  States  gained  their  independence  not  easily,  but 
through  heroic  suflfering  and  generous  bloodshed.  The  form 
of  government  adopted  has  thus  ftir  proved  successful  and 
beneficent.  But  whether  it  is  to  continue,  is  a  serious 
question  in  the  minds  of  some  of  the  most  thouglitful  and 
patriotic  citizens  of  the  republic.  At  present  no  one, 
perhaps,  should  sympathize  with  the  American-born  citizen 
who,  amid  occasional  hard  times  and  j)olitical  strifes, 
asserts  that  he  would  be  glad  to  see  the  republican  insti- 
tutions of  the  United  States  supplanted  by  a  monarchy  or  a 
dictatorship.  Such  statements  spring  from  the  occasional 
piques  and  invitations  of  those  who  hardly  realize  what  is 
involved  in  great  national  changes  and  revolutions. 

But  no  thoughtful  citizen,  familiar  with  histoiy,  and  cog- 
nizant of  present  tendencies  in  the  United  States,  is  without 
grave  apprehensions.     Nor  can  any  one  be  condemned  if, 

159 


V 


160  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

at  times,  the  conviction  is  felt  that  the  day  may  come,  and 
may  not  be  very  distant,  when  those  who  have  property  to 
protect  and  families  to  defend  will  be  left,  amid  certain 
possible  emergencies  and  contingencies,  to  admit  that  the 
guardian  power  of  the  republic  can  no  longer  be  relied 
upon.  As  patriotic  hearts  as  beat  in  America  are  appre- 
hensive that  the  time  is  coming  when  a  dictatorship,  or  an 
imperial  government,  shall  be  welcomed  as  a  choice  be- 
tween evils;  in  that  day,  the  expressed  preference  for  a 
limited  monarchy  would  not  be  treasonable,  but  would  be, 
in  the  truest  sense,  patriotic. 

The  soundness  of  this  statement  will  appear  if  the  nature 
of  government,  and  the  purposes  for  which  it  is  instituted, 
are  carefully  considered.     That  is,  whatever  may  be  the 
form  of  state  administration,  whether  monarchic,  ansto- 
cratic,  or  democratic,  its  existence  can  be  justified  only  as 
it  secures  or  contributes  to  the  following  ends: 
First.   The  defence  of  person  and  property. 
Second.   The  administration  of  justice. 
Third.   The  development  of  society. 
These  are  regarded  as  the  fundamental  aims  of  govern- 
ment, and  thc}'^  rest  upon  another  still  deeper  fundamental 
principle,  namely,  that  the  ultimate  object  of  government  is 
to  secure  the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number. 

Only  a  moment's  reflection  is  necessary  to  convince  any 
thoughtful  person  that  a  form  of  government  which  secures 
the  gi-eatest  good  to  one  people  may  not  secure  it  to 
another ;  indeed,  a  type  of  government  which  is  best  for  one 
generation  may  not,  even  in  that  same  countiy,  be  best  for 
another  and  different  generation.  The  form  of  government 
which  is  most  desirable  in  the  British  Isles,  for  instance,  may 


TV.]  NATIONAL  GOVERNMENT.  161 

not  be  the  most  desirable  for  the  aborigines  of  America. 
The  form  of  government  which  was  best  in  the  United  States 
when  Puritanism  prevailed  may  not  be  best  when  the  state 
is  crowded  with  hastily-natm-alized  and  ignorant  foreigners. 

The  existing  mountain  republics  of  Europe,  though  small, 
are  strong  and  orderly ;  those  in  Central  and  South  America 
are  weak  and  turbulent.  But  could  the  mountaineers  of 
Switzerland,  and  the  inhabitants  of  San  Marino  or  Andorra, 
be  transported  to  San  Salvador  or  Bolivia,  there  would  be 
orderly,  where  there  are  now  disorderly,  republics. 

In  a  word,  it  is  the  character  of  the  people  that  is  to 
decide  which,  in  a  given  instance,  is  the  best  form  of  gov- 
ernment. It  is  only  when  the  will  of  the  multitude  is  most 
likely  to  secure  the  gi'eatest  good  to  the  gi*eatest  number, 
that  a  democracy  is  better,  for  that  age  at  least,  than  a 
monarchy.  Hence  when  the  will  of  a  monarch  or  dictator 
is  more  likely  to  secure  the  gi-eatest  good  to  the  gi-eatest 
number,  then  a  monarchy  or  a  dictatorship  is  better,  for 
that  age  at  least,  than  an  aristocracy  or  a  democracy. 

There  is  no  occasion  for  surprise,  therefore,  that  a  day 
came  in  the  history  of  nearly  every  extinct  republic,  when 
patriotic  and  law-abiding  citizens  asked  for  a  ruler,  whether 
dictator  or  despot  they  cared  not,  provided  he  had  ability 
to  command  and  to  wield  power  sufficient  to  bring  order  out 
of  confusion.  No  lesson  in  histoiy  is  more  fully  or  clearly 
taught  than  that  a  republic  is  good  for  nothing  unless  the 
people  have  right-mindedness.  There  have  been,  and 
perhaps  are  to-day,  conditions  of  citizenship  in  the  United 
States  which  render  our  federal  and  representative  form  of 
government  the  most  desirable  possible.  But  it  is  equally 
true  that  a  quarter  or  a  half  centuiy  hence,  indeed,  within 
11 


162  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part  iv. 

either  of  those  periods,  there  may  be  such  a  condition  of 
citizenship  that  our  federal  compact  will  be  the  least  desir- 
able possible,  less  desirable  than  the  centralization  of 
France,  less  desirable  than  the  limited  monarchy  of  Great 
Britain,  less  desirable  even  than  the  comparatively  absolute 
monarchies  of  Russia  and  Turkey.  What  was  best  yester- 
day may  not  be  best  to-day ;  what  is  best  to-day  may  not  be 
best  to-morrow,  are  political  postulates  from  which  there  is 
no  easy  escape. 

Now,  uniting  the  foregoing  principles  with  a  fundamental 
law  found  everywhere  in  the  universe,  that  there  is  a  strong 
tendency  towards  what  is  fit  and  best,  we  are  forced  to  take 
the  unpleasant  position  that  forms  of  government  so 
strongly  sympathize  with  the  character  of  the  people  gov- 
erned, and  the  character  and  conditions  of  the  people  of 
almost  every  nationality  are  so  fluctuating,  that  change, 
rather  than  permanency,  must  be  the  rule  with  all  human 
institutions  and  governments.  "Every  age,"  as  Heine 
forcibly  remarks,  *'  is  a  sphinx,  which  sinks  into  the  earth 
as  soon  as  its  problem  is  solved."  The  nature  of  govern- 
ment, and  the  survey  of  extinct  republics  already  presented, 
cannot  fail,  therefore,  to  suggest  that  some  dark  fatality 
may  be  impending  over  the  United  States  of  America. 


CHAPTER    II. 


SUPPOSED     SECURITIES. 


It  is  often  asserted  that  there  are  certain  provisions  against 
the  overthrow  of  the  United  States  government,  which  did 
not  exist  in  the  extinct  republics  of  ancient  and  medieval 
date. 

For  instance,  the  magnificent  extent  of  our  domains, 
stretching  from  one  ocean  to  another,  and  from  the  Great 
Lakes  to  the  Mexican  Gulf,  have  been  expatiated  upon  by- 
popular  orators  for  the  last  half  century.  But  a  moment's 
reflection  ought  to  establish  the  conviction  that  extent  of 
ten-itoiy  is  not  a  permanent  barrier  against  the  internal 
perils  that  threaten  the  existence  of  our  national  govern- 
ment. Indeed,  since  extent  of  territory  is  attended  by- 
conflicting  state  or  national  interests,  there  is,  in  proportion 
to  extent  of  ten'itory,  a  con-esponding  national  danger. 
The  historic  facts  are,  that  those  republics  which  have  the 
longest  history,  also  have  had  the  most  limited  territoiy. 
San  Marino,  Andorra,  some  of  the  Italian  Communes,  and 
the  free  cities  of  Germany,  are  notable  examples.  The 
wisest  statesmen  of  the  United  States  see,  therefore,  not 
safety,  but  a  peril  of  no  small  magnitude,  in  the  very  fact 
that  Maine  is  so  far  removed  from  California,  and  Oregon 
from  Florida.    A  conflict  of  secti(^al  interests  is  rendered 

163 


164  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

possible  and  even  probable,  except  there  shall  be  great 
individual  forbearance. 

Again,  the  marvellous  prosperity  of  the  republic  is  the 
pride  of  every  patriot.  The  vast  resources  of  the  country  are 
hardly  touched.  Of  the  triumi^hs  of  the  mechanical  indus- 
tries too  much  cannot  be  said.  In  these  matters  we  are 
far,  very  far  in  advance  of  all  who  have  preceded  us.  Our 
means  of  intercommunication,  the  innumerable  printing- 
presses  of  the  country,  the  network  of  railways,  the  elegance 
of  our  palatial  steamboats,  the  lines  of  telegraph,  the  tele- 
phone, and  a  multitude  of  other  forms  of  material  pros- 
perity, are  among  the  wonders  of  the  age.  Ancient  rej3ub- 
lics  hardly  dreamed  of  these  achievements,  still  no  evidence 
can  be  presented  that  the  extinct  republics  fell  because  they 
did  not  have  what  is  enjoyed  by  us.  These  national 
aggrandizements  are  in  no  way  national  defences  against 
the  perils  that  threaten  our  national  existence. 

While  ancient  republics  are  not  our  equals  in  mechanical 
inventions,  they  very  far  outreach  us  in  much  else.  In  the 
ornamental  arts  we  scarcely  approach  Greece,  Rome, 
several  of  the  cities  of  Italy,  or  the  Netherlands.  Orna- 
mental art  has  as  much  patriotism  in  it  as  has  mechanical 
invention.  All  history,  as  well  as  the  nature  of  the  case, 
warns  us,  therefore,  against  depending  upon  any  of  these 
material  achievements  or  artistic  accomplishments  as  secu- 
rities against  national  overthrow.  Thej-  are  not  of  the 
slightest  account.  Rails  of  iron  and  wires  of  steel  cannot 
bind  together  a  government  already  having  in  it  the 
elements  of  dissolution.  All  such  bonds  will  be  most  easily 
snapped  in  sunder.  In  case  of  usurpation,  these  very 
ti'iumphs  of  our  civilization  would  but  strengthen  the  cen- 


IV.]  SUPPOSED  SECURITIES.  165 

tralization,  and  help  wreck  the  republic.  Unless  material 
prosperity  improves  the  moral  quality  of  our  citizenship,  the 
country  is  not  a  whit  safer  than  if  our  only  means  of  transit 
between  east  and  west  were  confined  to  stage-coach  or 
horseback.  Unless  steamboats,  railroads,  telegraphs,  and 
telephones  aid  in  making  men  more  temperate,  more 
honest,  and  more  pure,  they  should  never  be  mentioned  nor 
thoiight  of  in  connection  with  the  supposed  permanency  of 
the  republic.  The  man  who  watches  his  flocks  on  the  hill- 
side by  day,  and  sleeps  in  a  mountain  hamlet  at  night,  is 
as  free  from  demoralizing  temptations,  and  also  is  quite  as 
likely  to  be  a  noble  and  valuable  citizen,  as  is  the  man  who 
rides  in  a  palace  steamboat.  The  citizen,  not  the  steam- 
boat, affords  national  security. 

Again,  general  intelligence  and  an  excellent  system  of 
public  schools  in  the  United  States  are  thought  by  many  to 
give  our  republic  a  marked  advantage  over  all  other  repub- 
lics, and  to  afford  ample  security  against  national  subver- 
sion or  overthrow.  But,  upon  a  close  inspection,  the  facts 
bearing  upon  this  subject  are  not  of  the  most  flattering 
character.  In  every  state  in  the  republic,  the  ballot  is 
placed  in  the  hands  of  men  who  can  neither  read  nor  write. 
The  Southern  States  are,  confessedly,  in  a  most  deplorable 
condition.  Up  to  the  close  of  the  civil  war,  there  was  no 
free-school  system  in  any  slave-state.  Indeed,  the  laws  of 
those  states  positively  forbade  the  majority  of  their  people 
from  learning  even  the  rudiments  of  education.  The  slaves 
were  fi*eed,  and  those  lawless  laws,  which  imposed  perpet- 
ual ignorance,  were  abrogated.  The  Freedmen's  Bureau 
was  established,  but  after  rendering  a  needed  and  valuable 
service,  the  government,  owing  to  one  reason  or  another, 


166  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

was  induced  to  discontinue  the  Bureau,  and  thenceforth 
practically  forsook  those  ignorant  but  liberated  and  en- 
franchised people.  This  cannot  be  looked  upon  in  any 
other  light,  politically,  than  one  of  the  greatest  mistakes 
ever  made  by  an5^  free  government,  existing  or  historic. 

According  to  the  census  of  1870,  in  the  states  of  Missis- 
sippi and  Texas  ninety-six  per  cent,  of  the  colored  people 
were  entirely  illiterate.  In  another  state,  ninety-five  per 
cent.,  in  another  ninety- three  per  cent.,  in  two  others 
ninety-one  per  cent.,  and  in  another  ninety  per  cent,  of  the 
colored  people  were  found  unable  to  read,  or  write  their 
names.  Eighty-eight  per  cent,  of  the  entire  colored  people 
of  the  South  are  in  perfect  ignorance. 

By  general  consent,  so  far  as  intelligence  is  concerned, 
there  is  not  much  to  choose  between  large  masses  of  the 
whites  in  the  Southern  States  and  the  colored  people. 
Both  classes  are  ignorant,  yet  both  are  exercising  the  high- 
est functions  of  an  American  citizen.  From  a  table  of 
statistics  recently  furnished,  it  is  found  that  the  total  aver- 
age of  non-attendance  among  those  who  are  of  the  school- 
going  age  in  the  sixteen  Southern  States  is  seventy-five 
per  cent.  And  one-half  of  this  number  are  growing  up  to 
wield  the  ballot,  and  have  a  voice  in  deciding  who  shall 
I'ule  over  us.  This  dense  illiteracy  of  the  South,  which 
contains  more  than  one-third  of  the  entire  population  of 
the  nation,  amounting  to  three  million  five  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  persons  who 
cannot  read  and  write,  is  startling.  But  it  is  still  more 
startling,  that  of  the  two  million  illiterate  votere  in  the 
United  States,  one  million  seven  hundred  thousand  are  in 
the  Southern  States,  which  elect  thirty-two  of  the  seventy- 


IV.]  SUPrOSED  SECURITIES.  167 

four  senators  and  one  hundred  and  nine  of  the  two  hundred 
and  ninety-two  representatives  in  Congress.  And  this  in 
a  country  where  "  there  are  two  things  that  can  reach  the 
top  of  the  pyi-amid,"  as  D'Alembert  says,  "  the  eagle  and 
the  reptile." 

But  for  the  prevailing  ignorance  of  the  southern  white 
people,  it  is  hardly  probable  that  a  few  skilled  leaders 
would  have  been  able  to  take  the  seceding  states  out  of  the 
Union  and  into  rebellion.  Yet,  incredible  as  it  may  seem, 
the  national  government  has  been  doing  comparatively 
nothing  during  these  late  years  to  protect  itself  at  the  very 
point  whence  our  former  misfortunes  came,  and  where, 
also,  to-day  is  to  be  found  one  of  the  most  subtle,  and  one 
of  the  most  dangerous,  species  of  peril  that  has  ever  threat- 
ened any  republican  form  of  government. 

Some  of  the  middle  or  border  states  approach  in  illiteracy 
the  condition  of  the  extreme  south.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
Kentucky  does  not  fairly  represent  the  range  of  states  to 
which  she  belongs.  One  of  the  county-school  commission- 
ers of  that  state  makes  the  following  report : 

"There  are  twenty-five  or  thirty  schoolhouses  in  this 
county  not  as  good  as  the  average  of  good  horse-stables. 
I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  people  of  this  county,  as  a 
whole,  are  making  greater  efforts  to  raise  pigs  than  to  ed- 
ucate their  children.  I  am  satisfied  that  it  costs  more  to 
maintain  the  dogs  of  the  county  than  the  people  pay  in 
support  of  the  common  schools." 

But  the  southern  and  middle  states  are  not  alone  in  this 
illiterate  condition.  Our  northern  cities  are  fast  filling  with 
voters  as  ignorant  as  were  the  rabble  hordes  that  helped 
wreck  the  republics  of  antiquity. 


168  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

Eighteen  or  twenty  thousand  voters  in  every  municipal 
election  in  New  York  cannot  read  or  write;  "and  they  are 
a  make-weight  sufficient,  in  the  liands  of  a  few  astute  and 
unscrupulous  men,  to  determine  the  result  of  any  ordinary 
political  contest  in  that  city." 

A  writer  of  wide  reputation  asks  this  pertinent  question : 

"Are  you  sure  that  when  the  population  of  Massachu- 
setts is  as  dense  as  that  of  England,  your  Massachusetts 
laws  will  make  everything  smooth  here?  Has  this  com- 
monwealth a  right  to  be  proud  of  its  exemption  from  illit- 
eracy? There  are  here  sixteen  hundred  thousand  people, 
and  one  hundred  thousand  of  them  are  illiterates.  Of  one 
hundred  thousand  citizens  in  Massachusetts  above  ten  years 
of  age,  and  of  seventy-seven  thousand  above  twenty-one, 
it  is  true  eitlier  that  they  cannot  read,  or  that  they  cannot 
write." 

When,  therefore,  all  these  matters  are  taken  into  account, 
are  we  sure  of  our  great  educational  advantage  over  the 
republics  of  antiquity? 

Macaulay,  in  criticising  Dr.  Johnson's  views  of  the  Athe- 
nian people,  makes  use  of  this  language : 

•'  There  seems  to  be,  on  the  contraiy,  eveiy  reason  to  be- 
lieve that,  in  general  intelligence,  the  Athenian  populace 
far  surpassed  the  lower  orders  of  any  community  that  has 
ever  existed.  It  must  be  considered,  that  to  be  a  citizen 
was  to  be  a  legislator  —  a  soldier  —  a  judge  —  one  upon 
whose  voice  might  depend  the  fate  of  the  wealthiest  tribu- 
tary state,  of  the  most  eminent  public  man.  The  lowest 
offices,  both  of  agi'iculture  and  of  trade,  were,  in  common, 
performed  by  slaves.  The  commonwealth  supplied  its 
meanest  members  with  the  support  of  life,  the  opportunity 


IV.]  SUPPOSED  SECURITIES.  169 

of  leisure,  and  the  means  of  amusement.  Books  were  in- 
deed few:  but  they  were  excellent;  and  they  were  accu- 
rately known.  It  is  not  by  turning  over  libraries,  but  by 
repeatedly  perusing  and  intently  contemplating  a  few  great 
models,  that  the  mind  is  best  disciplined.  Books,  however, 
were  the  least  part  of  the  education  of  an  Athenian  citizen. 
Let  us  for  a  moment  transport  ourselves  in  thought  to  that 
glorious  city.  Let  us  imagine  that  we  are  entering  its 
gates  in  the  time  of  its  power  and  gloi-y.  A  crowd  is  as- 
sembled round  a  portico.  All  are  gazing  with  delight  at 
the  entablature,  for  Phidias  is  putting  up  the  frieze.  We 
turn  into  another  street;  a  rhapsodist  is  reciting  there: 
men,  women,  children  are  thronging  round  him :  the  tears 
are  running  down  their  cheeks ;  their  eyes  are  fixed ;  their 
very  breath  is  still,  for  he  is  telling  how  Priam  fell  at  the 
feet  of  Achilles,  and  kissed  those  hands  —  the  terrible,  the 
murderous  —  which  had  slain  so  many  of  his  sons.  We 
enter  the  public  place;  there  is  a  ring  of  j^ouths,  all  leaning 
forward,  with  sparkling  eyes  and  gestures  of  expectation. 
Socrates  is  pitted  against  the  famous  atheist  from  Ionia, 
and  has  just  brought  him  to  a  contradiction  in  terms.  But 
we  are  inteiTupted.  The  herald  is  crying,  '  Room  for  the 
Prytanes.'  The  general  assembly  is  to  meet.  The  people 
are  swaniiing  in  on  every  side.  Proclamation  is  made: 
'Who  wishes  to  speak?'  There  is  a  shout,  and  a  clapping 
of  hands ;  Pericles  is  mounting  the  stand.  Then  for  a  play 
of  Sophocles ;  and  away  to  sup  with  Aspasia.  I  know  of 
no  modern  university  which  has  so  excellent  a  system  of 
education." 

But,  for  the  sake  of  the  argument,  we  will  admit  that 
general  intelligence  in  the  United  States  far  surpasses  that 


170  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

of  the  voting  citizens  of  Athens  or  of  any  other  republic. 
Yet,  does  any  one  presume  that  such  a  degree,  or  indeed 
any  degree,  of  intellectual  attainment  will  save  the  repub- 
lic? On  the  contrary,  it  will  be  found  that  mere  intellectual 
training  does  not  of  necessity  inspire  patriotism  nor  reduce 
crime.  The  schoolroom  may  make  a  more  crafty  dema- 
gogue, without  making  a  safer  citizen. ''S  Says  a  writer 
who  has  given  much  thought  to  these  subjects: 

"  Culture,  untouched  by  religion,  has  no  redeeming 
power.  Whenever  culture  of  intellect  outstrips  the  culture 
of  conscience,  disaster  follows.  Popular  intelligence  with 
popular  unbelief  ends  in  popular  corruption.'' 

Victor  Cousin,  the  profoundest  of  French  philosophers, 
in  an  address  before  the  Chamber  of  Peers,  maintained 
that  "  any  system  of  school-training  which  sharpens  and 
strengthens  the  intellectual  powers  without  at  the  same 
time  affording  a  source  of  restraint  and  counter-check  to 
their  tendency  to  evil,  by  supplying  moral  culture  and  re- 
ligious principle,  is  a  curse  rather  than  a  blessing." 

"  Despotism,"  says  De  Tocqueville,  "may  govern  without 
religious  faith,  but  liberty  cannot." 

Herbert  Spencer  is  strictly  philosophical  when  saying 
that  "the  belief  in  the  moralizing  effects  of  intellectual 
culture,  flatly  contradicted  bj'"  facts,  is  absurd." 

John  Locke  has  wisely  written  thus : 

"If  virtue  and  a  well-tempered  soul  be  not  got  and  set- 
tled so  as  to  keep  out  ill  and  vicious  habits,  languages  and 
science,  and  all  the  other  accomplishments  of  education, 
will  be  to  no  purpose  but  to  make  the  worse  or  more  dan- 
gerous man." 

Another  distinguished  thinker  has  remarked,  with  equal 


IV.]  SUPPOSED  SECURITIES.  171 

truthfulness,  that  "  to  educate  the  mind  of  a  bad  man  with- 
out correcting  his  morals,  is  to  put  a  sword  into  the  hands 
of  a  maniac." 

"Washington,  in  his  farewell  address,  says :  "  Let  us  with 
caution  indulge  the  supposition  that  morality  can  be  main- 
tained without  religion.  Reason  and  experience  both  forbid 
us  to  expect  that  national  morality  can  prevail  in  exclu- 
sion of  religious  principles." 

Daniel  Webster,  in  his  argument  against  the  Girard  will, 
said :  "  In  what  age,  by  what  sect,  where,  when,  by  whom, 
has  religious  truth  been  excluded  from  the  education  of 
youth  ?  Nowhere  I  —  never !  Everj'where  and  at  all  times 
it  has  been  regarded  as  essential." 

But  the  most  enlightened  states  in  the  republic,  ignoring 
all  these  jDrinciples  of  true  culture  and  development,  have 
allowed  sectarian  quarrels  and  personal  indiflference  to  hush 
or  silence  religious  instruction.  European  nations  who 
are  thought  inferior  in  their  common-school  system  have, 
in  certain  respects,  gone  far  in  advance  of  us,  by  acting 
upon  the  principle,  that  to  educate  a  moral  being,  while 
wholly  ignoring  and  excluding  moral  influences,  is  pre- 
posterous. In  England  —  a  country  more  nearly  like  our 
own  than  any  other — the  new  educational  act  of  1870  made 
careful  provision  for  Biblical  and  religious  instruction. 
With  the  exception  of  Birmingham,  where  the  disorderly 
class  is  large,  and  a  few  small  towns  in  Wales,  eveiy 
school  board  approved  the  act.  Only  a  short  time  since, 
the  London  school  board  sent  a  circular  to  all  the  teachers, 
asking  them  to  give  more  attention  to  religious  instruction. 
It  says :  "  The  committee  hope  that  during  the  Bible  lesson 
the  teachers  will  keep  this  object  before  them,  and  that 


172  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

every  opportunity  will  be  used  earnestly  and  sympatheti- 
cally to  bring  home  to  the  minds  of  the  children  those  moral 
and  religious  principles  on  which  the  right  conduct  of  their 
future  lives  must  necessarily  depend." 

Huxley  has  recently  spoken  very  decidedly  in  favor  of 
the  introduction  of  the  Bible  as  a  reading-book  into  common 
schools.  His  position  is,  that  "  there  must  be  a  moral  sub- 
stratum to  a  child's  education  to  make  it  valuable ; "  and 
that  '*  there  is  no  other  source  fi'om  which  this  can  be  ob- 
tained at  all  comparable  with  the  Bible." 

De  Tocqueville,  after  a  visit  to  America,  wrote  these  in- 
structive words :  "  The  United  States  must  be  religious  in 
order  to  be  free.  Society  must  be  destroyed  unless  the 
Christian  moral  tie  be  strengthened  in  proportion  as  the  po- 
litical tie  is  relaxed ;  and  what  can  be  done  with  a  people 
who  are  their  own  masters,  if  they  be  not  submissive  to 
Deity?  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  in  the  United  States  the 
instruction  of  the  people  powerfully  contributes  to  the  sup- 
port of  the  democratic  republic ;  and  such  must  always  be 
the  case,  I  believe,  where  the  instruction  which  enlightens 
the  understanding  is  not  separated  from  the  moral  educa- 
tion which  amends  the  heart." 

The  Prussians  have  a  maxim,  that  "  whatever  you  would 
have  appear  in  a  nation's  life  you  must  put  into  the  public 
schools."  The  Prussian  educational  code  obliges  every  in- 
habitant, unless  he  can  satisfy  the  authorities  that  his  chil- 
dren, when  reaching  five  years  of  age,  are  obtaining  an 
education  of  equal  standard  elsewhere,  to  send  them  to  the 
Volks-schule.  The  instruction  given  in  those  schools  is, 
therefore,  the  minimum  standard  for  every  Prussian.  It 
consists  of  reading  and  writing  German,  the  geogi'aj^hy 


IV.]  SUPPOSED  SECURITIES.  173 

and  history  of  Prussia,  arithmetic,  drawing,  music,  gym- 
nastics, and  religious  exercises. 

In  view,  therefore,  of  what  the  wisest  thinkers  affirm,  are 
we  too  severe  when  repeating  the  grave  charge,  tliat  the 
common-school  system,  in  some  of  the  most  enlightened 
states  of  our  republic,  has  made  so  many  compromises, 
its  instructions  are  so  reticent  upon  all  religious  subjects, 
the  voice  of  prayer  is  so  effectually  hushed  within  its 
halls,  the  Bible  is  retained  with  so  slight  a  tenure,  and 
the  irreligious  thinking  of  not  a  few  teachers  employed  is 
so  extreme,  that  we  have  an  educational  system,  such  that 
upon  graduation  day  the  school  is  liable  to  present  to  the 
country  simply  more  accomplished  villains.  The  schoolboy 
of  to-day  may  successfully  outwit  an  ignorant  policeman ; 
he  may  be  more  subtle  and  less  brutal,  but  he  is  no  less 
criminal  on  that  account,  and  is  not  one  whit  less  perilous 
than  are  the  most  illiterate  to  the  welfiire  of  our  American 
republic. 

To  a  mind  of  special  religious  cast  there  is  still  another 
ground  of  supposed  security  against  the  overthrow  of  the 
republic  of  the  United  States,  namely,  divine  interposition. 
There  are  very  few  thoughtful  and  religious  people  who  are 
destitute  of  the  conviction  that  God  has  wrought  wondrously 
for  the  American  people.  In  the  settlement  of  the  country, 
during  the  Revolution,  and  equally  during  the  Rebellion, 
there  is  no  difficulty  in  discovering  and  tracing  remarkable 
providences.  Time  and  again  there  have  been  interpositions 
and  preservations. 47 

But  the  student  of  history  everywhere  meets  the  startling 
fact  that  the  era  of  providential  interposition  after  a  while, 
in  case  of  nearly  every  nation,  gives  place  to  the  era  of  at 


174  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [I'akt 

least  apparent  providential  desertion.  For  a  time  the 
Jewish  commonwealth  was  seemingly  a  special  cliild  of 
Providence.  The  same  was  true  of  Greece ;  often  were  the 
Greeks  called  upon  to  celebrate  their  deliverances  at  the 
hands  of  the  gods.  Carthage  more  than  once  had  occasion 
to  express  gratitude  for  what  appeared  to  them  to  be  divine 
aid.  Plutarch,  under  the  title  "Concerning  the  Fortunes 
of  the  Romans,"  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  leading 
Romans  attributed  their  success  and  gi-eatness  more  to  for- 
tune than  to  virtue.  "  The  temples  dedicated  to  Fortune," 
he  says,  "are  splendid  and  ancient,  almost  as  old  as  the 
first  foundations  of  Rome  itself."  After  enumerating  many 
providential  interpositions  in  behalf  of  Rome,  Plutarch 
continues:  "What  shall  I  say  more?  Has  not  Fortune  re- 
lieved the  city  when  it  was  reduced  to  the  greatest 
extremity  of  danger?"  The  same  writer  also  mentions 
the  triumphs  of  the  Romans  over  Philip,  Antiochus,  and 
the  Carthaginians,  likewise  the  cackling  of  geese  at  the 
approach  of  the  Gauls,  also  the  death  of  Alexander,  as 
manifest  interpositions  of  the  gods  in  behalf  of  the  Roman 
people. 

The  medieval  republics,  no  less  than  the  ancient,  seemed 
to  have  enjoyed  for  a  season  the  smiles  of  a  benignant 
Providence.  The  plot  of  Jacques,  for  illustration,  to  sur- 
prise and  capture  Venice,  was  deep-laid,  and  seemed  in  the 
fairest  way  of  accomplishment.  "As  an  expression  of  gi'at- 
itude  for  the  escape  of  the  republic  from  such  a  fearful 
danger,"  says  the  historian,  "the  Venetian  government 
decreed  that  thanksgiving  services  in  commemoration  of 
the  discoveiy  of  the  plot  should  be  held  once  every  year  in 


IV.]  SUPPOSED  SECURITIES.  175 

all  the  churches,  and  that  whosoever  ftiiled  to  join  in  cele- 
brating the  day  should  be  hanged  as  a  traitor. 

Nor  can  anj^thing  be  more  marked  than  the  apparent 
providential  interpositions  in  behalf  of  the  republic  of  the 
United  Netherlands.  But  the  time  came  in  the  history  of 
the  Netherlands,  and  of  Venice,  of  Rome,  of  Carthage,  of 
Greece,  and  of  Palestine,  when  there  was  no  interposition, 
and  those  republics,  one  after  another,  fell. 

The  lessons  of  history,  therefore,  should  teach  eveiy 
American  not  to  presume  too  much.  The  United  States 
have  been  prosperous ;  the  people  have  become  proud,  irre- 
ligious, and  corrupt.  Our  fathers,  in  the  Mayflower,  began 
their  famous  political  compact  with  the  words,  "In  the 
name  of  God.  Amen."  Daniel  Webster  was  accustomed 
to  call  this  sentence  the  first  clause  of  the  American  Con- 
stitution. 

Such  changes  have  been  taking  place  in  our  political  and 
religious  life,  however,  that  there  has  been  a  slow  and  sly 
erasure  of  this  thought.  The  republic  is  in  the  way  of  for- 
feiting further  claims  upon  divine  providence.  Indeed, 
were  God  strict  to  mark  out  iniquities,  our  doom  would  be 
already  sealed. 

But,  aside  from  this,  it  ought  to  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  illiterate  and  immoral  masses  admitted  to  citizenship 
and  franchise  in  this  country  may  become  uncontrollable. 
Political  strifes  may  become  more  and  more  fierce.  The 
day  may  dawn  when  a  monarchy  will  result  in  the  greatest 
good  to  the  greatest  number.  Then,  if  that  day  comes,  God 
will  not  longer  interpose  to  save  the  republic,  but  will 
order  its  overthrow,  and  in  mercy  will  permit  a  monarchy 


X 


176  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part  iv. 

to  be  established  by  those  wlio  liave  skill  and  daring  suffi- 
cient to  undertake  and  accomplish  it. 

It  must  be  apparent,  therefore,  that  our  national  safety- 
needs  something  besides  the  securities  suggested.  Extent 
of  territory  and  material  aggrandizement  will  not  save  the 
republic.  Our  educational  advantages  are  inadequate. 
Nor  have  we  gi'ound  for  assurance,  if  we  remain  as  we 
are,  that  God  will  much  longer  interpose.  None  of  these 
securities  are  protecting  from  conflicting  religious  interests 
and  from  social  and  political  animosities,  nor  from  a  mul- 
titude of  corruptions.  And  from  these  sources  it  is  clearly 
apparent  that  threatening  tempests  are  approaching. 


CHAPTER    III. 


EXISTING    PERILS.       POPERY. 


One  of  the  most  popular  orators  of  this  country  addressed  a 
college  audience  three  days  before  Sumter  fell.  Walking 
to  the  edge  of  the  platform,  he  asked,  "  What  is  going  to 
happen  ? "  and  then  whispered,  with  his  hand  above  his 
lips,  "  Just  nothing  at  all."  He  was  the  popular  man  upon 
the  day  of  the  address.  Had  there  been  another  speaker 
present  who  had  ventured  to  depict  the  actual  scenes  which 
followed  during  the  next  five  years,  he  would  have  been 
scowled  at  and  hissed.  It  is  difficult  for  human  nature  to 
believe  ill  tidings,  and  the  prophet  of  impending  evils  is 
often  stoned.  When  Samuel  tried  to  arrest  the  political 
determinations  of  the  Jews  by  depicting  the  misfortunes 
that  would  come  upon  them,  they  would  not  believe.  His 
noble  words  were  to  no  purpose. 

Demosthenes  tried  in  vain,  in  his  Philippics,  to  arouse 
the  Athenians  to  a  sense  of  the  dangers  which  threatened 
them.  They  would  not  believe  that  there  was  occasion  for 
alarm,  and  a  strong  party  opposed  the  great  orator,  assert- 
ing that  he  was  a  disturber  of  the  peace  of  Athens.  But 
when  it  was  too  late,  the  Athenians  woke  from  their  slimi- 
ber  and  beheld  their  ruin. 

When  the  Grecian  fleet  was  suiTounded  by  the  Persians 
12  177 


178  FATE  OF  EEPUBLICS.  [part 

in  the  Bay  of  Salamis,  Themistocles  begged  of  Aristides  to 
communicate  the  unpleasant  news  to  the  Greek  council,  on 
the  ground  that  it  would  not  otherwise  be  believed.  When 
announced,  the  unpleasant  truths  were  utterly  discredited. 

The  intelligence  of  the  destruction  of  the  Sicilian  arma- 
ment was  communicated  to  the  Athenians  by  a  barber 
from  the  Pirasus ;  he  was  seized  and  put  to  torture,  for 
being  an  idle  bearer  of  falsehoods.  Yet  his  reports  were 
true,  and  Athens  was  shortly  filled  with  affliction  and 
dismay. 

Thus  likewise  with  Rome.  When  the  envoys  brought  to 
the  city  the  report  that  seventy  thousand  Gauls  were  march- 
ing upon  them,  the  proud  and  self-confident  Romans  made 
no  si)ecial  preparations  to  meet  the  enemy.  They  were 
blinded  by  their  conceits  and  supposed  sui^eriority.  But 
the  18th  of  July,  390  b.  c,  was  long  remembered,  for  on 
that  day  Rome  saw  her  army  crushed  by  those  despised 
Gauls.  Later,  while  the  great  mass  of  the  Romans  were 
living  heedlessly  and  carelessly,  not  imagining  that  any  foe 
would  be  daring  and  resolute  enough  to  march  against  the 
city,  they  allowed  both  the  gates  and  the  walls  to  go  to 
decay.  "They  had  not  imagined,"  says  the  historian, 
"  that  an  enemy,  since  the  days  of  Hannibal,  could  threaten 
them."  Sulla,  with  six  legions,  appeared  before  the  walls 
of  Rome,  and  his  victory  was  complete. 

This  enumeration  need  not  be  carried  further.  In  a  word, 
the  Jews  would  not  believe,  during  the  days  of  their 
prosperity,  that  their  commonwealth  would  become  an 
oppressive  monarchy,  and  then  be  wiped  out  of  existence. 
The  Greeks,  in  the  days  of  Grecian  prosperity,  did  not 
believe   in  the  overthrow  of  all  their  republics.     The  Car- 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  179 

thaginians,  when  extending  their  commerce  and  conquests 
in  every  direction,  did  not  believe  that  their  magnificent 
metropolis  would  be  so  completely  overthrown  as  to  be 
known  only  in  history.  The  Romans,  when  conquering  the 
world,  did  not  believe  in  the  humiliation  and  degradation 
which  have  since  befallen  her  people.  The  same  is  true  of 
Genoa,,  and  of  Venice,  of  the  Dutch  and  the  French  repub- 
lics. Men  are  always  saying,  "  peace  and  safety."  "  Life," 
says  Ilazlitt,  "is  the  art  of  being  well  deceived."  It  is, 
however,  an  old  adage  worthy  of  frequent  repetition,  that 
"there  is  always  danger  when  the  persuasion  exists  that 
there  is  none."  The  confident  man  is  warned  to  "take 
heed  lest  he  fall."  "  To  fear  the  worst  oft  cures  the  worst," 
says  Shakspeare ;  and  Edmund  Burke  declares  that  "  Early 
and  provident  fear  is  the  mother  of  safety."  Some  historic 
nations  have  seemed  to  have  no  wit  until  too  late.  The 
people  of  the  United  States  belong  to  this  class.  As  a  rule, 
Americans  never  read  history,  and  never  learn  anything  from 
it.  We  "are  treading  in  the  same  steps  of  injustice  and  crime 
that  other  nations  have  taken  and  regretted."  Upon  what 
grounds  are  we  assured  of  exemption  from  similar  regrets  ? 

"The  careless  trust,  that  happy  luck 
"Will  save  us,  come  what  may  — 
The  apathy  with  which  we  see 

Our  country's  dearest  interest  struck, 
Dreaming  that  things  will  right  themselves, 
That  brings  dismay. 

"No!   things  will  never  right  themselves, 
'Tis  we  must  put  them  right." 

The  first  peril  noticed  in  our  enumeration  is  the  fact  that 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  essentially  a  church  empire, 
maintains  a  hostile  attitude  towards  the  free  institutions  of 


180  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

the  United  States.  Against  a  Holy  Catholic  Church  we  do 
not  speak,  but  against  scheming  and  ambitious  ecclesiastics 
and  bigots  in  that  church,  we  speak  and  protest.  There  is 
much  in  the  history  of  Romanism,  much  in  its  services, 
much  in  the  devotion  of  its  adherents,  which  fills  every 
thoughtful  person  with  admiration.  Roman  Catholicism 
appeals  to  us  "  by  its  cordial  relations  to  all  the  fine  arts  — 
music,  painting,  sculpture,  architecture  —  to  whatever  im- 
presses most  and  delights  the  senses  and  tlie  tastes.  Her 
cathedrals  are  the  wonders  of  the  world,  mountains  of  rock- 
work,  set  to  music.  Her  elaborate,  opulent,  mighty  masses 
make  the  common  hymn  tunes  of  Protestantism  sound  like 
the  twitter  of  sparrows  amid  the  mighty  rush  and  wail  of 
concentrating  winds.  Her  ritual  is  splendid,  scenic,  and 
impressive  to  the  highest  degree,  and  all  is  exquisitely  per- 
vaded and  modulated  by  the  doctrine  which  underlies  it. 
Every  service,  every  vestment  even,  is  full  of  significance. 
Nothing  is  too  ornate  or  magnificent  to  be  incorporated  at 
once  into  her  majestic  and  superb  ceremonial.  She  moves, 
as  she  fights,  like  an  army  with  banners.  She  is  the  Church 
of  the  Apostles,  the  Church  of  the  Catacombs,  where  the 
new  Christian  kingdom  was  working  underground,  to  over- 
throw and  replace  the  Empire  of  Rome.  She  is  the  Church 
of  the  Fathers,  the  Church  of  the  Great  Councils,  before 
which  were  lowered  imperial  shadows,  to  whose  decisions 
ftiction  bowed,  and  whose  creed  and  decrees  have  governed 
and  assimilated  the  universe  of  Christendom.  She  is  the 
Church  of  the  Middle  Ages,  which  built  cathedrals,  organ- 
ized crusades,  established  libraries,  civilized  barbarians, 
liberated  slaves,  preserved  learning,  laws,  and  arts,  sub- 
jected barons,  converted  and  ruled  the  haughtiest  kings, 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  181 

and  which  has  since  sent  forth  her  heroic  and  conquering 
fathers  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  —  ad  majorem  Dei  gloriam.'''' 
Such  is  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  the  estimation  of 
not  a  few  who  are  standing  even  outside  of  her  communion. 
And  if  this  church  were  truly  christian,  in  spirit  and  prac- 
tice, were  she  less  inclined  to  interfere  with  matters  which 
are  beyond  her  legitimate  sphere,  and  were  she  less  bru- 
tally intolerant,  the  American  citizen  would  have  no  occa- 
sion for  alarm  or  hostility.  Americans  could  do  no  better, 
perhaps,  as  patriotic  citizens,  than  to  rejoice  in  her  pros- 
perity and  even  enter  her  communion.  Indeed,  we  may  go 
a  step  further,  and  say  that  if  Romanism  were  truly  chris- 
tian in  spirit  and  practice,  were  she  a  stanch  friend  of 
civil  liberty,  and  a  patron  of  general  intelligence,  were  lier 
ministers  and  officers  cultivated  and  pure,  were  she,  in  a 
word,  what  she  claims  to  be,  we  might,  perhaps,  fearlessly 
intrust  to  her  hands  the  government  of  the  world.  For 
thereby  the  greatest  good  would  doubtless  come  to  the 
greatest  number.  But  it  is  a  matter  of  painful  regret  that 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  not  christian  enough  to  be 
trusted;    rather  is  she  to  be  dreaded. 

Without  maligning  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  we  may 
show,  from  the  published  admissions  of  her  own  adherents 
and  advocates,  what,  in  political  matters,  is  her  attitude 
towards  all  liuman  governments.  The  reader  will  do  well 
to  bear  in  mind  that  when  the  Christian  Church  was  first 
organized  in  Rome,  it  consisted  of  a  body  of  devout  religious 
teachers  and  laymen.  But  after  a  short  time,  those  eccle- 
siastics who  had  charge  of  the  larger  and  more  wealthy 
churches,  being  in  possession  of  peculiar  advantages,  were 
in  consequence  raised   to  special   eminence.      Thus  com- 


182  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  Ipart 

menced  church  hierarchy.  One  step  led  to  another,  until 
the  highest  in  ecclesiastical  office,  namely,  the  Bishop  of 
Rome,  claimed  supreme  spiritual  authority.  This  assump- 
tion of  full  supremacy  by  the  Romish  Church  is  properly 
referred  to  the  time  of  Pope  Gregory  I.  (590  to  604).  The 
prestige  of  the  city,  tlie  former  capital  of  the  world,  and  the 
dogma  of  divine  succession,  gained  a  victory  for  Roman- 
ism which  could  not  have  been  secured  in  any  other  city 
of  the  world. 

The  claims  that  the  Roman  Pope  is  the  vicegerent  of 
God  on  earth,  and  that  he  is  the  supreme  monarch  of  an 
empire,  in  comparison  with  which  all  other  empires  dwindle 
into  insignificance,  and  to  which  they  should  yield  implicit 
obedience,  are  the  political  ideas  which  for  centuries  have 
been  zealously  maintained  by  Romanists.  Hence,  therefore, 
modern  Romanism,  which  is  properly  termed  Popery,  is 
from  the  nature  of  the  case  inimical  towards  every  form 
of  civil  government  which  is  not  under  her  domination. 
She  assumes  the  right  to  rule  or  destroy,  by  means  fair  or 
foul,  as  it  best  suits  her  purpose.  The  words  of  Secretaiy 
Thompson  are  suggestive,  almost  startling:  "He  who 
accepts  Papal  infallibility,  and  with  it  the  ultramontane 
interiDretation  of  the  power  of  the  Pope  over  the  world,  and 
thinks  that  by  offending  the  Pope  he  offends  God,  will  obey, 
passively,  unresistingly,  uninquiringly.  Such  a  man, 
whether  priest  or  layman,  high  or  low,  is  necessarily  inim- 
ical to  the  government  and  political  institutions  of  the 
United  States ;  with  him,  his  oath  of  allegiance  is  worth  no 
more  than  the  paper  upon  which  it  is  written." 

James  Anthony  Froude,  under  the  heading.  What  a  Cath- 
olic Majority  could  do  in  America,  takes  much  the  same 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  183 

view:  "We  agree  that  tlie  sijiritual  part  of  man  onglit  to 
rule  the  material ;  the  question  is,  where  the  spiritual  part 
of  man  resides.  The  Protestant  answers  that  it  is  in  the 
individual  conscience  and  reason ;  the  Catholic  sa^^s  that  it 
IS  in  the  church,  and  that  it  speaks  througli  bishops  and 
priests.  Thus,  every  true  Catholic  is  bound  to  tliink  and 
act  as  his  priest  tells  him,  and  a  republic  of  true  Catholics 
becomes  a  theocracy  administered  by  the  clergy.  It  is  only 
as  long  as  they  are  a  small  minority  that  they  can  be  loyal 
subjects  under  such  a  Constitution  as  the  American.  As 
their  numbers  gi'ow,  they  will  assert  their  principles  more 
and  more.  Give  them  the  power,  and  the  Constitution  will 
be  gone.  A  Catholic  majority,  under  spii'itual  direction, 
will  forbid  liberty  of  worsliip,  and  will  tiy  to  forbid  liberty 
of  conscience.  It  will  control  education ;  it  will  put  tlie 
press  under  surveillance;  it  will  punish  opposition  with 
excommunication,  and  excommunication  will  be  attended 
with  civil  disabilities." 

That  we  may  not  misjudge  of  Popish  movements  and 
claims,  we  briefly  quote  from  some  of  her  leading  authori- 
ties. 

*'  We  are  bound  to  believe  that  the  Holy  Father  should 
enjoy  that  political  independence  which  is  necessary  for  the 
free  exercise  of  his  spiritual  authority  throughout  the 
entire  world."  —  Political  Tract  of  the  "  Catholic  Publication 
Society.'''' 

"While  the  state  has  some  rights,  she  has  them  only  in 
virtue  and  by  permission  of  the  superior  authority,  and  that 

authority  can  only  be  expressed  through  the  church, 

regardless  of  temporal  consequences." — Catholic  World. 

"  No  civil  government,  be  it  a  monarchy,  an  aristocracy, 


184  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

a  democrac}^  or  any  possible  combination  of  any  two  or  all 
of  them,  can  be  a  wise,  just,  efficient,  or  durable  govern- 
ment .  .  .  without  the   Catholic   church;    and  without  the 

Papacy  there  is,  and  can  be  no  Catholic  church The 

state  is  only  an  inferior  court,  and  is  bound  to  receive  the 
law  from  the  supreme  court  (the  Vatican),  and  is  liable  to 
have  its  decrees  reversed  on  appeal."  —  Dr.  Orestes  Brownson. 

"The  spiritual  sword  is  to  be  used  by  the  church,  but  the 
carnal  sword  for  the  church.  The  one  in  the  hand  of  the 
priest,  the  other  in  the  hands  of  kings  and  soldiers,  but  at 
the  will  and  pleasure  of  the  priest.  It  is  right  that  the  tem- 
poral sword  and  authority  be  subject  to  the  spiritual  power. 
....  Moreover,  we  declare,  say,  define,  and  pronounce  that 
every  human  being  should  be  subject  to  the  Roman  pontiff." 
—  "  Unum  Sanctum"  of  Pius  IX  A^ 

But  Popery  is  wise.  She  does  not  often  venture  to  take 
full  control  of  the  reins  of  government  until  she  thinks  her- 
self able  to  manage  them.  At  the  outset,  when  she  is  not 
relatively  strong,  and  when  the  mass  of  the  peojile  are 
prosperous  and  contented,  she  contents  herself  with  seeking 
to  add  to  her  wealth,  enfranchising  her  communicants,  bid- 
ding for  political  preferment,  and  pleading  for,  or  pos- 
sibly asserting,  her  civil  and  political  rights.  But  when 
there  are  political  and  social  disturbances,  and  when  the 
peojjle  are  restless,  and  when  party  issues  are  hotly  con- 
tested, then  this  papal  empire,  this  enemy  of  free  institu- 
tions, becomes  an  ugly  factor,  consolidating  and  strength- 
ening in  proportion  to  the  discontents  and  disorganizations 
which  divide  and  threaten  the  civil  government.  We  see 
her  consenting  to  live  under  any  form  of  government,  under 
monarchies,  absolute,  limited,  or  mixed ;  under  aristocracies 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  185 

more  or  less  liberal ;  under  republics,  centralized  or  uncen- 
tralized,  representative  or  democratic,  in  North  or  in  South 
America,  or  elsewhere ;  but  she  never  forgets  or  abandons 
her  imperial  intentions.  France,  successively  monarchical, 
democratic,  and  consular,  again  monarchical,  and  now- 
republican,  in  her  form  of  government,  has  found  Papacy 
changing  with  every  political  change.  Under  Philip  II., 
St.  Louis,  Louis  XL,  Charles  VIIL,  Henry  IV.,  Louis 
XIIL,  Louis  XIV.,  who  had  each  bowed  before  the  papal 
power,  Romanists  were  on  the  side  of  monarchy.  In  the 
republic  of  1792  they  were  republicans.  Under  Napoleon 
they  were  monarchists;  and  now  again  they  are  republi- 
cans. They  are  anything  whereby  they  can  the  better 
control  the  people  and  the  government.  It  is  neither  mad- 
ness nor  fear  that  makes  Popery  one  thing  and  another,  but 
policy. 

In  the  United  States  Popery  will  be  found  to  side  with 
one  party,  then  with  another,  until  each  is  so  weakened 
that  she  can  rule  both.  She  will  join  hands  with  infidels 
against  Protestants,  but  having  gained  her  object,  she  will 
consign  both  allies  and  foes  to  contempt  or  to  flames.  She 
will  make  contracts  and  compacts,  any  number  of  them, 
but  when  she  believes  herself  powerful  enough  to  trample 
them  under  foot,  if  for  her  advantage,  she  will  do  so  without 
scruple  or  hesitation. 

But  more  than  this.  Popery  justifies  herself  in  resorting 
to  measures  the  most  intolerant  and  cruel.  "  Protestantism 
in  the  ascendency  is  tolerant  of  Popeiy ;  but  Popery  in  the 
ascendency  is  intolerant  of  Protestantism."  Republics  tol- 
erate Romanism  while  they  are  strong  and  she  is  weak ;  but 


18G  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

when  she  becomes  strong  and  they  are  weak,  she  tolerates 
nothing  opposed  to  her  own  rights  of  complete  domination. 

With  evidences  of  the  cruelty,  as  well  as  the  intolerance 
of  Popery,  history  abounds.  Hundreds  of  Protestants  mur- 
dered in  Bohemia  by  order  of  Gregory  XV. ;  the  expulsion 
of  fifteen  hundred  Moravians  from  their  homes  and  country, 
under  the  direction  of  Cardinal  Stein ;  the  brandishing  of 
the  executioner's  axe  in  Bavaria  and  Saxony  until  firesides 
were  made  so  desolate  that  twenty  thousand  terrified  people, 
to  prevent  further  bloodshed,  renounced  Protestantism ;  the 
War  against  the  Huguenots  under  Louis  XIII.;  the  half 
million  and  more  of  the  best  citizens  of  Spain  expelled,  out- 
lawed, or  murdered;  the  desolations  of  the  Netherlands 
under  the  bloody  Alva;  the  expulsion  of  the  Zellerdalers 
from  their  homes  and  kindred  in  Austria;  the  horrors  of 
internecine  war  fomented  in  Switzerland  by  intriguing 
Jesuits ;  the  cruel  vengeance  of  popish  domination  in  Sar- 
dinia, in  Tuscany,  in  Baden,  in  Portugal,  and  in  Ireland,  — 
would  seem  to  be  enough,  although  only  a  part  of  the  evils 
wrought,  to  call  a  world  to  arms  for  the  purpose  of  driving 
from  the  ftxce  of  the  earth  this  merciless  and  bloody  enemy 
of  humanity. 

It  is  said  in  reply  that  these  times  of  proscription  and 
violence  are  past.  We  should  be  glad  to  think  so.  But 
there  is  evidence  that  Popery,  if  strong  enough,  would  still 
employ, /or  the  greater  glory  of  God,  intimidation  and  mur- 
der. In  a  book  entitled  "  Notes  on  the  Second  Plenaiy 
Council  of  Baltimore,"  held  October,  1866,  are  these  words: 
•'  Infidels  are  not  to  be  tolerated,  and  their  infidelity  is  not 
to  be  tried  nor  proved,  but  extirpated."  In  that  same  book, 
baptized  heretics  are  pronounced  infamous,  and  the  right  to 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  187 

confiscate  their  temporal  goods  and  suliject  them  to  corpo- 
real punishment,  exile  and  imprisonment,  is  unbhishingly 
set  forth.  In  answering  the  question  whether  heretics  are 
rightly  punishable  even  with  death,  it  replies,  "Yes,  be- 
cause forgers  of  money,  or  other  disturbers  of  the  state,  are 
justly  punished  with  death;  therefore,  also,  heretics,  who 
are  forgers  of  the  fiiith." 

"  It  is,"  as  Secretary  Thompson  remarks,  "  no  trifling  and 
idle  thing  for  nations  and  peoples  to  find  themselves  thus 
plotted  against;  nor  is  it  a  trifling  and  idle  thing  for  the 
people  of  the  United  States  to  find  such  an  enemy,  with 
drilled  and  disciplined  troops,  in  the  very  midst  of  their 
peaceful  institutions." 

That  this  intolerant  and  cruel  foe  of  personal  freedom 
V  and  civil  governments  is  conscientious,  all  the  more  to  be 
feared  because  conscientiously  working  to  control  the  polit- 
ical destinies  of  the  United  States,  should  be  a  matter  of 
anxiety  to  every  republican  the  world  over.  Leading  Popish 
ecclesiastics  are  fully  alive  to  the  fact,  that  of  all  countries  of 
considerable  size  and  influence,  the  United  States  is  almost 
the  only  one  in  which  the  Pope  can  stand  upon  the  same 
level  with  every  citizen  and  be  eligible  to  the  highest  oflice. 

Gregoiy  XVI.,  whose  pontificate  commenced  in  1831, 
was  the  first  pope  who  encouraged  the  idea  that  the  "Holy 
Empire"  w^ould  ultimately  establish  itself  in  the  United 
States.  In  June,  1871,  the  late  pope,  while  addressing  a 
deputation  of  citizens  from  our  republic,  made  use  of  this 
language:  "The  bearing  of  the  Catholics  of  the  United 
States  fills  me  with  hope  for  the  future  of  the  church. 
There  was  a  cardinal  once  who  was  a  prefect  of  the  con- 
gregation, ....  and  he  was  wont  to  prophesy  about  Amer- 


188  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

ica.  He  used  to  say  so  earnestly  that  the  salvation  of  the 
church  would  come  from  America,  that  it  made  a  deep 
impression  on  me,  and  I  hold  to  the  same  opinion." 

It  was  that  same  pope,  Gregory  XVI.,  who,  nearly  fifty 
years  ago,  said:  "Out  of  the  Roman  States  there  is  no 
country  where  I  am  Pope,  except  the  United  States." 

But  to  make  this  imperial  sway  complete,  civil  liberty 
in  the  United  States  must  be  brought  to  an  end.  Hence  it 
is  not  surprising  that  Pope  Pius  IX.  condemned  American 
liberty  and  denounced  the  doctrine  that  liberty  of  con- 
science and  worship  is  the  right  of  every  man.  Nor  is  it 
surprising  that  he  declared  that  all  the  principles  upon 
which  our  government  is  founded  are  pernicious  to  the 
Papal  church,  and  that  all  those  who  maintain  them  preach 
the  doctrine  of  perdition. 

The  response  of  the  Papist,  Dr.  Orestes  Brownson,  is  also 
suggestive  and  unmistakable:  "We  wish  this  country  to 
come  under  the  Pope  of  Rome.  As  the  visible  head  of  the 
Church,  the  spiritual  authority  which  Almighty  God  has 
instituted  to  teach  and  govern  the  nations,  we  assert  his 
supremacy,  and  tell  our  countrymen  that  we  would  have 
them  submit  to  him." 

The  plea  is  now  put  forth  that  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica, by  legal  right,  belong  to  the  Pope.  *'  Columbus,"  says 
De  Lorgues,  a  distinguished  French  Catholic,  "gave  the 
name  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  to  his  ship,  lifted  the  cross  in 
her,  departed  on  Friday,  and  commanded  the  sails  to  be 
unfurled  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  in  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ  that  he  took  possession  of  the  lands  he  dis- 
covered. It  was  to  honor  the  Redeemer  tliat  he  erected  the 
cross  eveiywhere  he  landed."    What  follows?    This:  that 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  189 

these  teiTitorial  titles  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  obtained 
through  the  discoveries  of  Columbus,  antedate  all  other 
rights  and  titles.  Hence,  therefore,  the  Pope  simply  bides 
his  time  to  claim,  politically,  what  is  his  own.  Leading 
Papists  confidently  predict  that  the  day  is  not  distant  when 
our  de  facto  claims  and  titles  must  yield  to  the  dejure  dom- 
ination of  the  Church  of  Rome. 

The  careless  citizen,  doubtless,  is  ready  to  reply  that 
whatever  the  designs  of  Papists  may  be,  there  is  no  actual 
danger.  It  is  admitted  that  the  general  feeling  is  tliat 
Popery  is  dying.  She  is  dying,  and  thriving,  too.  She  is 
dying  at  some  of  the  original  roots,  but  taking  vigorous 
root  further  along  and  in  other  soils.  In  countries  where 
one  would  least  expect  it,  Scotland  and  England,  she  gains 
adherents  even  from  the  ranks  of  the  brightest  scholars  and 
the  noblest  blood.  The  quiet  with  which  the  people  of 
Great  Britain  received,  a  few  months  ago,  the  announce- 
ment that  in  Scotland  there  had  been  erected  a  Papal  hie- 
rarchy, with  an  archbishop  and  a  full  complement  of  bishops, 
is  instructive  in  contrast  with  the  almost  wild  excitement 
into  which  the  same  people  were  thrown  less  than  thirty 
years  ago,  when  a  Papal  brief  decreed  the  establishment  of 
a  similar  hierarchy  in  England.  Earl  Russell  intensified 
the  passionate  clamor  of  the  day  *by  vigorous  denunciations 
of  the  "  Aggi-ession  of  the  Pope  upon  our  Protestantism  as 
insolent  and  insidious."  Addresses  of  remonstrance  were 
presented  to  the  Queen  from  eveiy  part  of  the  kingdom. 
A  bill  was  introduced  into  Parliament  to  forbid  Roman 
Catholic  bishops  from  assuming  the  temtorlal  titles  given 
to  them  by  the  brief,  and  was  can'ied  by  a  vote  of  three 
hundred  and  ninety-five  to  sixty-three.     "Now  the  Pope 


190'^>V-''^/i  ■ .    V    P^^JTg  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

asks  peiTnission  of  the  Queen ;  it  is  gi-anted.  Scotland  is 
provided  with  a  fully-equipped  hierarchy ;  no  one  protests ; 
not  even  so  much  as  a  public  meeting  is  called;  and  the 
whole  matter  is  dismissed  in  a  five-line  telegram."  Scot- 
land now  has  six  bishops,  two  hundred  and  seventy-two 
priests,  and  two  hundred  and  sixty-four  churches  and 
chapels,  while  in  1851  she  had  but  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
priests,  and  ninety-seven  churches  and  chapels.  Leo  XIII., 
it  is  thought,  has  already  decided  to  create  a  Scotch 
cardinal. 

A  London  periodical,  the  Whitehall  Review,  publishes  a  list 
of  conversions  to  Romanism  that  have  recently  taken  place 
in  Great  Britain  among  the  upper  classes.  It  includes  the 
names  of  one  duke,  two  marquises,  five  earls,  fifteen  barons 
and  lords,  seven  baronets,  three  knights,  one  general,  one 
admiral,  ten  members  of  Parliament,  four  Queen's  counsel, 
four  professors,  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  beneficed  cler- 
gymen, sixty-seven  of  whom  have  become  priests,  and  one 
hundred  and  ninety-eight  gentlemen,  sons  of  peers,  fellows, 
and  the  like,  fifty-one  of  whom  have  taken  sacerdotal  orders. 
Among  the  women  of  rank  there  are  five  duchesses,  thirty- 
eight  peeresses,  wives  of  baronets,  knights,  and  others,  and 
thirty-three  ladies  of  position  who  have  gone  over  to  the 
Church  of  Rome.  Outside  of  people  of  rank  have  been 
many  persons  prominent  in  society,  art,  and  literature. 
Some  of  these  are  Thomas  Arnold,  brother  of  Matthew 
Arnold,  and  son  of  Dr.  Thomas  Arnold  of  Rugby ;  Thomas 
Burnand,  the  proser  of  "  Happy  Thoughts ;  "  Emily  Bowles, 
the  authoress;  Florence  Marryat,  alias  Mrs.  Ross  Church, 
the  novelist;  Miss  Froude,  niece  of  the  historian;  Miss 
Gladstone,  sister  of  the  ex-premier ;  Coventy  Patmore,  the 


IV.]  EXISTING  PE 


poet ;  "  Professor  "  Pepper ;  Adelaide  Anna  Proctor,  poet,  and 
daughter  of  Barry  Cornwall ;  Philip  Rose,  Arthur  Sketch- 
ley  ;  Mrs.  Hope-Scott,  gi*and-daughter  of  Sir  Walter  Scott ; 
Elizabeth  Thompson,  now  wife  of  Major  Butler,  painter  of 
the  "Roll  Call ;  "  and  Robert  Isaac  Wilberforce,  M.  P.,  eldest 
son  of  the  celebrated  pliilanthropist.49 

The  numerical  strength  of  Popery  in  the  United  States, 
according  to  Secretary  Thompson's  showing,  is  already 
surprising.  They  have  one  cardinal,  seven  archbishops, 
fifty-three  bishops,  six  apostolic  vicars,  priests  whose  num- 
ber it  is  impossible  to  estimate,  with  a  membership  of  from 
six  to  eight  millions.  During  nine  years  (1859-1868)  they 
increased  one  hundred  per  cent.,  while  Protestants  increased 
but  twenty-nine  per  cent.  With  the  same  ratio,  if  con- 
tinued to  about  1900,  there  will  be  in  the  United  States 
eighty  million  Papists,  to  but  seventy-five  million  Protes- 
tants.50 

While  it  is  generally  thought  that  the  increase  in  the 
future  cannot  continue  to  be  so  rapid  as  in  the  past,  yet 
there  are  grounds  for  supposing  that  Papal  increase  will 
soon  be  in  even  gi-eater  ratio,  not,  perhaps,  by  old  methods, 
but  by  new  ones.  The  old  ones  are  too  slow.  No  one  need 
be  told  that  the  politicians  who  now  control  the  Popish  vote 
do  so  by  showing  favor  to  Popish  leaders.  The  democracy 
almost  never  dares  to  run  the  risk  of  losing  this  vote  in 
gi'eat  cities.  In  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  local  politicians  do  not 
dare  to  appeal  to  the  legislature  at  Albany  for  the  repeal 
of  the  law  exempting  Romish  property  from  taxation, 
because  they  would  lose  the  Romish  vote  in  Brooklyn.  "  A 
law  was  passed  by  the  Albany  legislature,  imposing  a  per- 
petual tax  of  more  than  $225,000  annually  on  New  York 


192  *      FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

city  for  the  support  of  Roman  Catholic  parochial  schools. 
In  1870,  petitions  from  one  hundred  thousand  citizens,  and 
a  wave  of  popular  indignation,  barely  succeeded  in  effect- 
ing the  repeal  of  this  enactment."  The  party  that  now  has 
at  its  disposal  this  Popish  vote  throughout  the  country,  will 
have  to  enslave  itself  in  the  future  still  more,  in  order  to 
hold  it,  and  in  order  to  gain  what  is  now  zealously  sought, 
namely,  complete  political  ascendency  in  the  republic. 
This  will  be  arranged.  If  in  no  other  way,  then.  Catholic 
Spain  will  acquiesce,  and  Catholic  Cuba,  divided  into  differ^ 
ent  states,  will  ask  admittance  into  our  Federal  Union. 
Papists  in  America  will  demand,  some  in  all  parties  will 
think  the  measure  wise,  and  a  democratic  Congress  will 
yield,  for  it  will  not  dare  to  oppose  this  Papal  demand 
when  it  comes. 

But  more  than  this:  outbreaks  along  the  Mexican  bor- 
ders will  continue.  Papists  do  not  care  to  have  peace. 
We  have  grounds  for  supposing  that  they  provoke  hostilities 
and  smile  at  depredations.  The  Roman  Catholic  journals 
of  Mexico  are  very  violent  against  Diaz,  and  urge  war 
with  the  United  States.  The  toleration  of  Protestantism  by 
President  Diaz  is  considered  the  highest  of  crimes  by 
Papists.  These  conditions  remaining,  it  is  to  be  feared  that 
within  ten  years  there  will  be  unlawful  attempts  to  force 
Mexico,  with  her  twenty-seven  states,  into  our  Federal 
Union.  And  the  party  which  then  condescends  to  bid  for 
the  Popish  vote,  will  not  dare  oppose  these  hazardous 
political  measures. 

Again,  it  is  well  known  that  the  leading  Roman  Catho- 
lics of  the  Canadas  desire  accession  to  the  United  States. 
The   possible  methods   of   gaining  this  object  when    the 


nr.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  193 

proper  moment  arrives  are  so  numerous,  that  it  is,  at  the 
present  moment,  difficult  to  say  which  is  the  more  prob- 
able. But  the  measure,  favored  as  it  is  by  the  Papal  world, 
is  inevitable.  More  states  thus  enter  the  Union,  and  are 
represented  in  Congress.  Let,  therefore,  those  who  appre- 
hend no  danger  from  Popery,  consider  that,  should  Cuba, 
Mexico,  and  Lower  Canada,  or  should  Cuba  and  Lower 
Canada  without  Mexico,  be  annexed,  the  United  States,  for 
all  that  Protestants  could  do  to  prevent  it,  would  sink,  in  a 
day,  helplessly  under  the  rule  of  the  Popish  priesthood. 
Ambitious  demagogues  and  ambitious  priests  would  thus 
unite  in  bringing  to  an  end  our  civil  liberties. ^^  The  over- 
throw of  a  government,  free  or  monocratic,  does  not  trouble 
Popery,  for  she  can  flourish,  and,  perhaps,  best  flourish,  in 
countries  which  she  has  fi]st  ruined. 

While  estimating  the  political  power  which  is  to  aid  in 
accomplishing  these  results,  also  while  estimating  the  pres- 
ent and  prospective  strength  and  increase  of  Popery,  the 
freedmen  must  not  be  overlooked.  Before  the  war,  the 
Papists  seemed  to  have  no  special  interest  in  the  Southern 
slaves,  but  since  they  have  become  freedmen,  and  since  the 
ballot  has  been  placed  in  their  hands,  they  have  been  vis- 
ited by  all  branches  of  Papal  charities.  They  have  been 
embraced  by  the  priest,  and  invited  into  his  fold.  The  eyes 
of  many  of  these  ignorant  and  superstitious  colored  people 
have  been  strongly  allured  toward  Papal  pomp,  show,  and 
ceremony,  and  not  a  few  have  devoutly  kissed  the  crucifix. 
The  freedman  has  discovered  that  he  is  less  troubled  by  his 
political  enemies  when  becoming  a  Romanist.  He  has  also 
learned  that  his  body  is  better  provided  for  when  he  makes 
13 


194  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

the  sign  of  the  cross.  Is  it  a  matter  of  wonder  if  he  asks, 
Why  shall  I  not  make  it? 

In  the  hour  of  sickness  the  Sister  of  Charity  goes  to  his 
relief.  Is  it,  therefore,  a  matter  of  surprise  that  he  has 
welcomed  the  lady  of  white  liood  and  black  dress  as  an 
angel  of  mercy? 

Those  of  the  freedmen  who  still  desire  education  for 
themselves  or  their  children,  seeing  that  Protestants  are 
hesitating  and  closing  their  schools  even  while  filled  with 
pupils,  and  seeing  Romanists  opening  new  schools  in  every 
quarter,  have  asked.  Why  may  we  not  form  these  new  and 
apparently  permanent  and  beneficial  alliances? 

The  reasons  as  yet  assigned  for  not  doing  this,  have 
neither  convinced  nor  prevented  them.  The  Boston  secre- 
tary of  the  American  Missionary  Society  has  published  the 
statement  that,  in  certain  localities,  being  obliged  to  dis- 
continue schools  for  lack  of  funds,  the  colored  children  en 
masse  have  gone  into  the  neighboring  Catholic  schools, 
which  were  eagerly  opened  to  receive  them.  And  this 
course  has  been  strongly  advocated  by  some  of  the  leading 
negroes  of  the  North.  George  T.  Downing,  an  educated 
and  intelligent  colored  man,  has  been  so  nettled  with  the 
disabilities  and  abuses  of  his  people,  and  with  the  caste  and 
prejudices  of  Protestant  churches  against  them,  that  he  de- 
clares the  Catholic  church  to  be  the  only  reliable  refuge  of 
fi'eedmen.  "All  that  the  poor,  downtrodden  blacks  of  the 
United  States  have  to  do,"  he  says,  "  is  to  *  fellowship '  with 
this  strong,  courageous,  well-disciplined  church,  and  they 
thereby  become  not  only  a  part  of  her  power,  but  add  to  the 
power  which  will  protect  them."  He  further  says :  "lam 
fully  persuaded  that  a  general  alliance,  on  the  part  of  the 


IV.]  EXISTING  PEEILS.  195 

colored  people  of  America,  with  the  Catholic  church  of 
America,  would  be  the  most  speedy  and  effective  agency  to 
break  down  American  caste,  based  on  color." 

The  colored  people  have  not  been  slow  to  discover  these 
apparent  advantages,  especially  when  approved  and  urged 
by  the  educated  of  their  own  nationality.  As  might  be 
expected,  by  public  resolutions  they  have  more  than  once 
recognized  this  deep  interest  of  Romanism  in  their  educa- 
tional welfare,  and  have  formally  conferred  with  the  author- 
ities of  the  Catholic  church  to  ascertain  to  what  extent  they 
may  look  to  it  for  assistance.52 

But,  replies  some  one,  suppose  the  Papist  does  assume  to 
take  in  hand  the  education  of  the  colored  people,  what  ob- 
jection can  be  raised?  This  objection  can  be  raised,  that 
those  colored  children  are  to  become  voters,  and  in  Pajjal 
schools  they  will  not  receive  such  education  as  will  fit  them 
for  worthy  and  loyal  citizenship.  In  the  first  place,  educa- 
tion under  Papal  instruction  will  be  utterly  inadequate  in 
quantity.  The  priest  and  the  Jesuit  do  not  believe  in  full 
mental  development  for  the  mass  of  their  communicants. 

In  the  island  of  Sardinia,  which  for  ages  has  been  entirely 
under  the  control  of  the  Romish  clergy,  there  are  512,384 
in  a  population  of  547,112,  who  can  neither  read  nor  write. 
The  priests  have  made  no  efforts  to  remove  this  illiteracy. 

Spain,  too,  has  been  called  the  paradise  of  priests.  It  is 
solidly  Papal.  The  Spaniards  have  shown  themselves,  in 
the  past,  to  be  a  remarkable  people.  They  have  displayed 
vast  energy,  and  have  a  grand  and  stately  histoiy.  There 
was  a  time  when  Spain  had  fleets  in  all  zones.  They  were 
once  a  nation  of  schools  and  scholars.  "By  a  circular  letter 
to  the  Bishops  in  789,  Charlemagne,"  says  Guizot,  '*  required 


196  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

them  to  establish  elementary  schools  in  their  cathedral 
cities  for  the  gratuitous  instruction  of  the  children  of  the 
freemen  and  of  the  laboring  classes,  while  schools  of  a  su- 
perior grade  were  to  be  opened  at  the  same  time  in  the 
larger  monasteries  for  the  study  of  the  higher  branches  of 
learning."  Spain  was  included.  But  the  Spaniards  are 
to-day  what  Edmund  Burke  once  called  them,  "stranded 
whales  on  the  coast  of  Europe."  Education  for  nearly  three 
centuries  in  the  hands  of  priests  and  Jesuits,  has  brought 
forth  its  legitimate  fruits.  By  the  last  general  census  of 
Spain,  it  was  found  that  of  the  sixteen  millions  population 
of  the  kingdom  there  were  only  a  trifle  over  two  millions 
men  and  about  seven  hundred  and  sixteen  thousand  women 
able  to  read  and  write.  There  were  316,557  men  and 
389,211  women  able  to  read  but  not  to  write.  All  the  rest, 
upward  of  five  millions  men  and  six  millions  eight  hundred 
thousand  women,  could  neither  read  nor  write.  At  the 
preceding  census,  the  total  number  of  persons  of  both  sexes 
able  to  write,  was  found  to  be  considerably  less  than  one- 
fifth  of  the  population.  It  was  rare  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  or  at  the  beginning  of  the  present,  to 
find  a  peasant  or  an  ordinary  workman  who  was  able  to 
read.  This  accomplishment,  among  women,  was  even  held 
to  be  immoral.  Are  masses  like  these  fit  for  the  duties  and 
responsibilities  of  American  citizenship?  Or  is  it  safer  to 
commit  to  the  hands  of  Papal  clergy  the  education  of  the 
American  voter? 

Italy  presents  nearly  the  same  showing.  Ninety-nine 
and  three-fourths  per  cent,  of  the  population  of  Italy  were 
returned  as  Catholics  in  1871.  The  Roman  clergy  has 
managed  Italy  for  centuries,  and  the  Pope  himself  has 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  197 

governed  certain  of  its  states.  According  to  the  census  of 
1864,  out  of  a  total  population  of  nearly  twenty-two  millions, 
there  were  in  Italy  seventeen  millions  who  could  neither 
read  nor  write.  Of  these,  nearly  eight  millions  were  men, 
and  over  nine  millions  were  women.  In  the  Basilicata,  in 
Calabria,  and  in  Sicily,  more  than  nine-tenths  of  the  inhab- 
itants could  neither  read  nor  write.  Had  the  jDriesthood 
really  desired  the  enlightenment  of  its  spiritual  children, 
would  this  illiteracy  have  overshadowed  sunny  Italy? 

"  We  must  certainly  root  out  printing,"  said  the  Vicar  of 
Croydon,  "or  printing  will  root  us  out."  Essentially  the 
same  feelings  seem  to  be  entertained  by  the  most  of  those 
who  are  seeking  to  manage  the  education  of  Papal  commu- 
nicants. We  therefore  protest  against  Romanists  being 
allowed  to  take  into  their  hands  the  education  of  the  freed- 
men.  Their  parochial  schools  provide  no  adequate  safe- 
guard against  the  most  deplorable  ignorance.  Their  in- 
struction would  tend  to  make  the  United  States,  in  respect 
to  popular  intelligence,  what  Spain  is,  what  Mexico  is,  what 
Italy  is,  what  Ireland  is,  and  what  other  exclusively  Cath- 
olic countries  are  the  world  over  and  history  through. 

But  not  only  is  Papal  education  inadequate  in  amount, 
but  it  is  loaded  with  falsehood.  The  text-books  authorized 
for  their  schools  grossly  belie  the  facts  of  history.  They 
teach,  for  instance,  that  Popish  priests  had  nothing  to  do 
with  the  death  of  most  of  those  who  suffered  in  the  era  of 
martyrdom.  "  They  teach  that,  at  the  moment  of  execu- 
tion, the  priest  appeared  at  the  side  of  the  man,  only  to 
inspire  him,  if  possible,  with  sentiments  of  repentance; 
that  all  the  priestly  council  did  was  to  pronounce  the  indi- 
vidual guilty  and  deliver  him  over  to  the  secular  authori- 


198  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

ties,  who,  without  clerical  coercion,  inflicted  the  just  penal- 
ties." 

The  horrors  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition  are  glossed  over. 
"  By  punishing  a  few  obstinate  individuals,"  reads  one  of 
the  Catholic  school-books,  *'  the  monarchy  was  saved  from 
the  civil  wars  which  desolated  Germany,  Switzerland,  and 
Holland."  "The  Inquisition  did  not  cause  so  much  blood 
to  flow  as  did  the  Calvinistic  Reformation." 

Bismarck,  after  a  visit  to  France,  said  that  the  saddest 
sight  he  saw  in  that  country  was  the  manipulation  of  the 
historical  text-books  by  Romish  ecclesiastics.  It  is  the 
same  in  all  countries  where  the  priesthood  rules. 

A  book  bearing  the  title  "  Plain  Talk  about  the  Protes- 
tantism of  To-day,"  which  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  young 
Catholics  in  France  and  the  United  States,  contains  these 
statements:  "Martin  Luther  died  forlorn  of  God,  —  blas- 
pheming to  the  very  end.  His  last  word  was  an  attestation 
of  impenitence.  His  eldest  son,  who  had  doubts  both  about 
the  Reformation  and  the  Reform,  asked  him  for  a  last  time 
whether  he  persevered  in  the  doctrine  he  preached.  '  Yes,' 
replied  a  gurgling  sound  from  the  old  sinner's  throat,  — and 

Luther  was  before  his  God!" "Calvin  died  of  scarlet 

fever,  devoured  by  vermin,  and  eaten  up  by  an  ulcerous 
abscess,  the  stench  whereof  drove  away  every  person.  In 
great  misery  he  gave  up  his  rascally  ghost,  despairing  of 
salvation,  evoking  the  devils  from  the  abyss,  and  uttering 
oaths  most  horrible  and  blasphemies  most  frightful." 

Children  who  are  in  the  reformatory  institutions  of 
Massachusetts  have  been  compelled,  on  pain  of  horse- 
whipping, to  commit  to  memory  subject-matter  found  in  a 
book  written  by  Father  Baddeley,  published  in  Boston,  bear- 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  199 

ing  the  title  "A  Sure  Way  to  Find  Out  the  True  Religion." 
The  following  are  some  of  the  questions  and  answers : 

"  Question.  Must  not,  then,  the  Protestant  Church,  instead 
of  leading  men  to  heaven,  infallibly  lead  them  to  hell? 

Answer.  "We  certainly  have  too  great  reason  to  appre- 
hend it,  particularly  when  we  consider  that  Christ  has  made 
two  things  necqssary  to  salvation :  namely,  true  fiiith  and 
good  works ;  and,  as  we  have  shown  before  that  the  Protes- 
tant Church  has  not  the  true  faith,  it  is  impossible  that  her 

works  can  save  her As  none  of  the  inhabitants  of 

Jericho  could  escape  the  fire  or  sword  but  such  as  were 
within  the  house  of  Rahab,  for  whose  protection  a  cove- 
nant was  made,  so  none  shall  ever  escape  the  eternal 
wrath  of  God,  who  belong  not  to  the  {Catholic)  Church  of 
God." 

After  depicting  the  sins  of  Protestants,  the  question  is 
asked,  Can  we  find  no  better  kind  of  holiness  among  Cath- 
olics? 

Answer.  "Yes;  the  holiness  of  the  Catholic  religion  is 
indeed  very  different  from  that  of  other  religions,  because 
the  religions  framed  by  men  teach  doctrines  invented  by 
Luther,  Calvin,  Wesley,  Whitfield,  and  other  deluded  and 
wicked  men,  whereas  the  Catholic  Church  teaches  only 
that  doctrine  which  Christ  taught  his  apostles." 

In  speaking  of  the  changes  wrought  in  England  by  the 
Papal  faith.  Father  Baddeley  says :  "Everything  brightened, 
as  if  nature  had  been  melted  down  and  re-coined.  It 
changed  the  people  that  were  rude,  savage,  barbarous,  and 
wicked,  into  a  nation  mild,  kind,  benevolent,  and  holy, 
teaching  men  to  do  in  all  things  as  they  would  be  done  by. 
And  so  much  did  men  live  up  to  this  gi-and  rule,  that  in 


200  FATE  OF  KEPUBLICS.  [part 

those  days,  when  England  was  Catholic,  a  boy  or  girl 
might  openly  carry  a  bag  of  gold  or  silver,  and  carry  it 
safely  all  the  country  over,  and  golden  bracelets  were  hung 
up  near  the  highways,  which  no  man  dared  to  touch."  53 

Of  Fox's  Book  of  Martyi's,  this  same  treatise  says :  "  These 
saints  were  nothing  but  a  set  of  deluded,  rebellious,  impious, 
and  blasphemous  wretches,  most  of  them  put  to  death  by 
the  law  of  the  land  where,  they  resided  for  their  crimes. 
Many  of  them  were  condemned  for  their  lewd  lives,  con- 
spiracies, rebellion,  and  murder;  some  for  witchcraft  and 
conjuring ;  others  for  sacrilege  and  theft,  and  even  for  flatly 
denying  Christ  himself.  In  fact,  to  call  a  man  one  of  Fox's 
saints,  is  become  the  same  as  to  call  him  a  great  rogue." 
Martin  Luther  is  described  in  the  following  terms :  "  Thus 
I  have  given  you  a  short  but  true  character  of  Fox's  Elias, 
the  conductor  and  chariot  of  Israel,  who,  he  says,  ought  to 
be  reverenced  next  to  Christ  and  Paul !  What !  can  a  man 
who  was  mad  with  lust  —  who  lived  in  adultery,  and  caused 
others  to  do  the  same  —  who  wrote  most  horrid  blasphemy, 
and  corrupted  the  Bible — who  was  a  notorious  drunkard 
and  companion  of  devils — who  was  as  proud  as  Satan  him- 
self, a  preacher  of  sedition  and  murder ;  what !  can  this  wretch 
be  compared  with  Christ  and  Paul?"  For  not  faithfully 
committing  these  falsehoods,  children  in  our  public  reforai- 
atory  schools  have  been  threatened  with  horse- whipping. 

It  is  in  view  of  instruction  like  this  that  a  distinguished 
writer  and  lecturer  has  been  led  to  say  that  if  we  were  "to 
call  up  the  scholars  out  of  the  two  or  three  thousand  paro- 
chial schools  in  the  United  States,  and  ask  them  to  recite, 
they  would  give  us,  in  answer  to  our  questions,  the  sub- 
stance of  these  intensely  Sectarian  text-books  —  these  pre- 


rvr.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  201 

cious  statements  about  the  Catholic  authors,  these  white- 
washed pages  concerning  the  Inquisition,  the  Edict  of 
Nantes,  and  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew ;  these  subtle 
insinuations  of  Catholic  doctrine  concerning  Mariolatry  and 
the  infallibility  of  the  Pope ;  these  presentations  of  Amer- 
ican history  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  the  impression 
that  the  Jesuits  were  the  fathers  of  the  best  part  of  our 
civilization.  This  is  what  we  should  hear  from  these  young 
lips.  But  if  Romanism  does  here  what  she  has  done 
abroad,  and  what  she  wishes  to  continue  on  American  soil, 
pretty  soon  the  answer  you  will  get  will  not  be  out  of  that 
book,  nor  that,  nor  that,  simply  because  the  children  cannot 
read  nor  write."  54 

It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  the  American  people  seem  to 
fail  in  comprehending  the  vital  point  in  this  religious-edu- 
cational controversy.  A  distinguished  Episcopal  clergyman 
has  lately  sided  with  the  Papists  thus:  "What  is  more 
needed  in  the  school  question  than  anything  else,  is  for 
jDeople  to  be  perfectly  fair,  and  to  remember  that  persons 
who  hold  a  different  faith  from  ours  may  be  as  honest  as 
we  are.  The  Roman  Catholics  have  not  been  treated  fairly 
in  this  matter.  They  believe  in  the  religious  education  of 
their  children,  and  it  has  often  been  the  boast  of  Protestants 
that  the  public  schools  could  be  used  to  destroy  the  religious 
belief  of  the  Roman  Catholic  youth.  They  naturally  resent 
this,  and  then  comes  the  demand  that  the  schools  shall  be 
strictly  secular,  and  this  goes  so  far  in  the  wrong  direction 
that  no  one  is  satisfied.  The  Roman  Catholics  are  Amer- 
ican citizens,  and  they  have  just  as  much  right  to  a  voice  in 
the  management  of  the  schools  as  the  Protestants  have; 
but,  if  the  schools  are  used  for  proselyting  in  favor  of 


202  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

Protestantism,  it  is  acting  unfairly  to  the  Roman  Catholics, 
and  doing  to  them  what  we  should  not  be  willing  to  have 
them  do  to  us." 

We  reply  that  Protestantism  is  the  friend  of  civil  liberty, 
and  Popery  is  its  enemy ;  therefore,  in  a  free  country,  the 
Papist,  with  his  foreign  instincts  and  sympathies,  should  not 
have  equal  voice  in  the  management  of  the  education  of 
those  who  are  to  exercise  the  rights  of  franchise.  Indeed, 
he  should  have  no  voice  at  all. 

A  noted  Unitarian  clergyman  has  fallen  into  this  same 
error.  He  says:  "In  the  United  States  are  children  of 
parents  representing  portions  of  all  the  great  faiths  of  the 
world.  No  wonder,  then,  that  the  question  has  come  up, 
and  that  it  agitates  the  public  mind  and  demands  a  settle- 
ment as  to  what  religion,  if  any,  shall  be  taught  all  these 
children  in  the  public  schools.  Here  are  Catholics,  Protes- 
tants, Orthodox,  Universalists,  Free  Religionists,  Buddhists, 
Confucianists,  Jews,  Paulicians,  Hindoos.  What  religion 
shall  the  church  be  permitted  to  teach  in  the  public 
schools?  Shall  it  be  permitted  to  teach  any?  It  is  not  a 
battle  between  religion  and  irreligion;  it  is  a  contest  be- 
tween rival  religions.  Every  one  looks  at  it  from  a  reli- 
gious standpoint.  To  each  man  the  religion  in  which  he 
intensely  believes  is  a  matter  of  supreme  importance.  State 
oppression  or  state  interference  in  this  highest,  supreme, 
most  sacred  of  all  matters,  is  tyranny  odious  and  unbear- 
able. What  right  has  the  state  to  teach  my  child  a  doctrine 
that  I  believe  shall  issue  in  irremediable,  eternal  ruin  to 
that  child?  If  I  were  a  sincere,  earnest,  intense  believer  in 
the  Catholic  Church,  I  would  fight  this  thing  to  the  death." 

These  aiders  and  abettors  of   Popish  disturbance  and 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  203 

demands  are  caught  unawares.  The}-  have  missed  entirely, 
in  their  discussions,  the  radical  distinctions  between  Protes- 
tantism and  Popery,  as  related  to  our  republican  institu- 
tions. John  Locke's  theory  was  that  the  state  should  grant 
entire  liberty  of  opinion  and  practice  in  matters  of  religion 
to  all  except  atheists,  who  he  thought  could  not  be  good 
citizens,  and  Roman  Catholics,  wliom  he  excepted  on  the 
ground  that  their  primal  allegiance  to  the  Pope  of  Rome 
made  them  untrue  in  their  allegiance  to  the  king  of  Eng- 
land, and  therefore  unsafe  citizens  in  the  state. 

The  Episcopal  clergy  of  the  United  States,  who  either 
sympathize  with  Papists  or  are  significantly  silent  upon 
these  public-school  questions,  and  liberal  Unitarians  who, 
from  singular  motives,  side  with  Papists  in  their  conflicts 
with  Evangelical  Protestantism,  forget  entirely  that  the 
Pope's  infallibility  is  a  fundamental  doctrine  enforced  upon 
the  minds  of  the  young,  and  that  children  trained  under 
such  teaching  are  likel}^  to  become  a  dangerous  element  in 
a  republican  government.  They  forget  that  Protestantism 
and  republicanism  are  one,  and  that  Popeiy  is  an  absolute 
monarchy.  They  forget  to  what  the  people  of  this  country 
are  indebted  for  their  liberties.  Says  De  Tocqud^ille :  "The 
greatest  part  of  North  America  was  peopled  by  men  who, 
after  having  shaken  off  the  authority  of  the  Pope,  ac- 
knowledged no  other  religious  supremacy.  They  brought 
with  them  into  the  New  World  a  form  of  Christianity,  which 
I  cannot  better  describe  than  by  styling  it  a  democratic  or 
republican  religion.  This  contributed  powerfully  to  the 
establishment  of  a  republic,  and  a  democracy  in  public 
aflfairs ;  and,  from  the  beginning,  politics  and  religion  con- 
tracted an  alliance  which  has  never  been  dissolved." 


204:  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

Protestants,  of  whatever  name,  likewise  infidels  and 
democrats,  who  side  with  Popery  in  these  educational 
questions,  forget  that  early  alliance,  without  which  there 
had  been  no  free  and  independent  republic  of  the  United 
States.  They  forget  that  Popery  is  unchangeable,  and  that 
Boniface  TV.  wrote  to  King  Athelbert  of  England  thus: 
"  If  any  king,  or  any  bishop,  clergyman,  or  laic,  shall  essay 
to  infringe  the  decrees  of  the  Popes,  he  shall  incur  the 
anathema  of  Peter  and  of  all  his  successors."  These  men 
who  side  with  Papists  forget  that  in  1565,  Melendez  of 
Spain,  sent  to  our  shores  by  his  king,  put  to  death  every- 
body "within  the  walls"  of  North  Carolina,  "including  the 
aged,  the  women,  and  children,"  saying,  "  I  am  Melendez, 
of  Spain,  sent  to  gibbet  and  behead  all  Protestants  in  these 
regions.  The  Frenchman  who  is  a  Catholic  I  will  spare ; 
every  heretic  shall  die !  " 

These  men  forget  that  Popery  is  ready,  when  strong 
enough,  to  repeat  these  deeds  of  the  past.  It  was  only  a  few 
days  since  that  in  Spezia,  Italy,  at  a  service  in  honor  of 
Mary,  a  Catholic  priest  showed  his  feelings  toward  the 
Bible  by  an  auto-da-fe  —  a  burning  of  all  copies  of  the 
Scriptures  that  could  be  gathered  in  the  city  and  surround- 
ing villages.  It  is  said,  as  the  flames  arose  the  cry  was 
heard,  "Burn  the  Protestants!"  These  men  forget  that 
Pius  IX.,  in  1864,  condemned  the  liberty  of  the  press,  of 
conscience,  and  of  free  speech ;  and  that  Leo  XIII.  is  to-day 
carefully  studying  the  measures  and  dogmas  of  Pius  IX., 
with  a  view  of  faithfully  adopting  and  carrying  them  out.^ 

These  men,  now  siding  with  Papists,  seem  to  forget 
that  the  Papal  authorities  of  Tuscany,  in  1851,  banished 
Count    Grucciandini    for    simply  having    a  Bible  in   his 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  206 

possession.  They  forget  that,  in  1852,  the  Papal  powers  of 
Portugal  decreed  imprisonment  and  fines  against  all  who 
opposed  ♦'  the  Church."  They  forget  that,  in  1860,  Manuel 
Matamoras,  of  Spain,  was  sent  to  the  galleys  for  eleven 
years,  for  daring  to  follow  his  conscience  and  preach  Prot- 
estantism. They  forget  Father  Dufresne  of  Holyoke,  and 
Father  Scully  of  Cambridgepoi-t.^e  They  forget  that  Papists 
deny  the  right  of  the  civil  power  to  have  anything  to  do 
with  education. 57  They  forget  —  O  for  pages  of  history 
written  in  flames!  Then,  perhaps,  men  would  read  them, 
and  no  longer  aid  and  abet  Papists,  who  are  determined 
upon  reproducing  in  the  United  States  the  condition  of 
Italy,  of  Spain,  of  Ireland,  of  Lower  Canada,  of  Mexico, 
and  of  the  afflicted  republics  of  South  America. 

Before  these  sympathizers  with  Papal  demands  take  an 
additional  step,  let  them  ask  men  who  have  given  attention 
to  these  subjects  in  some  of  their  broader  relations,  whether 
it  is  safe  to  allow  the  Pope,  priests,  and  Jesuits  to  manage 
the  education  of  our  future  citizens.  "Ask  Gladstone,  as 
he  bends  over  the  work  of  writing  the  learned  pages  of  his 
pamphlet  on  Vaticanism,  and  summons  all  history  to  testify 
that  the  education,  to  say  nothing  of  the  liberty  of  a  people, 
is  not  safe  under  exclusively  Romish  auspices.  Ask  Prince 
Bismarck.  At  his  fireside,  in  his  palace  at  Varzin,  he  has 
a  costly  tapestry  representing  King  Henry  IV.,  in  smock 
and  barefoot,  kneeling  three  days  in  the  snow  at  the  door 
of  the  palace  of  Pope  Hildebrand,  imploring  absolution  in 
vain,  until  his  humiliation  had  been  so  protracted  as  to 
become  what  the  Roman  pontiff  thought  to  be  the  proper 
symbol  of  the  lowness  of  the  civil  power,  when  set  up  over 
against  the  ecclesiastical." 


206  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

"  Popery,"  as  John  Milton  declared,  "  is  a  double  thing  to 
deal  with,  and  claims  a  twofold  power,  ecclesiastical  and 
political,  both  usurped,  and  the  one  supporting  the  other." 
These  usurpers  must  not  be  encouraged,  and  their  usurpa- 
tions must  be  frowned  upon,  and  unhesitatingly  and  un- 
qualifiedly condemned  by  every  Protestant  in  America. 
While  full  liberty  of  conscience  belongs  sacredly  to  every 
human  being,  and  while  the  state  should  protect  him  so 
long  as  he  does  not  trespass  upon  the  rights  of  others,  and 
is  a  peaceable  and  orderly  citizen,  yet  the  moment  he  be- 
comes a  trespasser  he  forfeits  his  liberty,  and  should  become 
a  convict. 

M.  Edmond  About,  in  the  September  number  of  the 
Nineteenth  Century,  powerfully  vindicates  the  recent  action 
in  the  French  Assembly  on  the  educational  question,  in 
seeking  to  deliver  the  nation  from  the  influence  of  the 
Papal  powers.  He  says :  "  The  absolute  independence  of 
some  few  thousand  monks  might  be  tolerated,  were  they  to 
devote  themselves  to  a  purely  contemplative  life,  or  to  con- 
fine themselves  to  preaching  in  the  pulpit,  writing  in  the 
papers,  and  publishing  works  of  doubtful  casuistry  or  dis- 
torted history.  But  directly  they  lay  hands  on  education  — 
wlien  they  turn  their  convents  into  schools,  and  entice 
thousands  of  children  of  the  middle  classes,  for  the  purpose 
of  moulding  their  young  minds  and  inculcating  their  par- 
ticular ideas  —  it  behooves  the  state,  not  merely  as  a  right, 
but  as  a  bounden  duty,  to  be  up  and  doing.  So,  at  least, 
thought  the  Due  Victor  de  Broglie,  M.  Guizot,  M.  Thiers, 
M.  Villemain,  and  all  the  great  Parliamentary  men  of  1844." 

The  fact  is,  when  any  devoted  republican  sees  Papal 
power,  which  for  ten  centuries  has  been  the  most  pro- 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  207 

nounced,  nnscrupiilous,  and  relentless  enemy  of  free  insti- 
tutions, take  in  hand  the  education  of  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  our  future  voters  among  the  foreigners  of  our  Northern 
States,  and  hundreds  of  thousands  in  the  Southern  States, 
he  ought  to  be  horrified.  The  peril  cannot  be  overesti- 
mated. But  Americans  see  no  danger  "until  the  fire 
reaches  the  bones."  Prussia  is  wise ;  she  sees  the  danger, 
and,  with  surprising  boldness,  is  defying  the  enemy.  But 
America  is  blindfolded,  and  is  bowing  in  timid  submission. 
Gladstone  has  seen  the  impending  struggle  in  England,  and 
has  uttered  his  courageous  and  prophetic  warnings.  But 
the  Republic  of  the  United  States  has  no  Gladstone,  and 
Congress  is  dumb  as  a  corpse. 

We  have  several  times  in  this  discussion  referred  to  the 
Jesuits.  They  are  Papists  of  the  most  dangerous  type. 
They  constitute  a  ring  within  a  ring,  having  eyes  within 
and  without.  They  dress  in  all  garbs,  speak  all  languages, 
they  know  all  customs,  they  are  everywhere  present,  yet 
nowhere  recognized.  In  South  America,  in  Cuba,  in  the 
Canadas,  in  every  state  of  Europe,  in  the  Indies,  in  China, 
in  Japan,  in  Asia,  in  Africa,  everywhere,  stealthily  at  work. 
They  are  despotic  in  Spain,  constitutional  in  England,  bigots 
in  Rome,  idolaters  in  India ;  they  study  Confucius  in  China, 
and  are  democrats  in  America.  They  are  democrats  here, 
because  they  expect  to  share  the  emoluments  of  future 
democratic  victories.  They  have  wealth,  but  are  neither 
spendthrifts  nor  misers.  They  use  their  money  freely 
whenever  it  can  be  used  in  the  interest  of  the  Church. 
For  any  secret  service  they  reward  handsomely.  The  spy 
is  liberally  paid,  the  civil  officers  of  any  country,  and  even 
those  fashionable  women  who  infest  every  court  and  con- 


208  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

gress  on  earth,  are  bribed  and  bought  over  by  the  princely 
offers  of  this  sly  and  intriguing  order  of  Jesuits.  "  There  is 
no  record  in  history  of  an  association  whose  organization 
has  stood  so  many  years,  unchanged  by  all  the  assaults  of 
men  and  time."  They  are  never  discouraged,  and  when 
beaten  back  they  always  begin  the  work  again  at  the  very 
place  where  it  suffered  interruption.  Some  of  the  rules  of 
this  order  are  monstrous  beyond  estimate. 

Says  Sanchez:  "A  man  may  swear  that  he  never  did 
such  a  thing  (though  he  actually  did  it),  meaning  within 
himself  that  he  did  not  do  it  on  a  certain  day,  or  before  he 
was  born." 

Father  Filiutius  gives  this  method  of  evasion:  "After 
saying  aloud,  '  I  swear  I  have  not  done  that,'  to  add  in  a 
suppressed  whisper,  '  I  have  done  that.'  " 

Father  Escobar  lays  down  this  law :  *'  Promises  are  not 
binding  when  the  person  making  them  had  no  intention  to 
bind  himself."  Such  are  the  teachings  of  these  treacherous 
spies,  who  are  in  our  midst  to  destroy  our  liberties.  They 
have  been  dreaded  and  yet  relied  upon,  worshipped  yet 
abhorred,  hurled  down,  yet  have  risen  again  witli  increas- 
ing activity.  They  have  even  dared  to  assail  the  Pope; 
they  poisoned  one  Pope  because  he  was  opposed  to  their 
order.  The  late  Pope,  in  his  early  reign,  sided  against 
them,  but  their  menaces  were  so  hostile  that  when  he 
walked  the  streets  of  Rome  people  were  wont  to  shout, 
"  Father,  beware  of  the  Jesuits."  He  at  length  yielded  to 
their  claims.  The  present  Pope,  fearing  for  his  life,  dares 
not  oppose  them.  Boston-educated  Archbishop  Williams 
dares  not  take  a  stand  against  them  in  their  present  agita- 
tion of  the  school  question.     To  use  Gladstone's  suggestive 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  209 

expression,  "this  Society  of  Jesus  ever  remains  the  most' 
perfect  instrument  of  mental  servitude  ever  devised." 

Pope  Pius  VII.  called  the  Jesuits  his  "Sacred  Militia;" 
he  recognized  in  them  his  best-drilled  and  best-disci- 
plined troops.  And  it  is  this  Church  Militia  which  is  now 
ordered  to  this  land,  to  watch  and  take  possession  when  the 
favorable  moment  shall  come.  These  Jesuits  are  already 
in  our  marts  of  business ;  they  are  in  our  army  and  navy ; 
they  are  in  our  halls  of  legislation;  they  are  upon  our 
school  committees,  —  the  most  sacred  office  in  this  republic, 
—  and  we  do  not  know  who  they  are.  Priests  and  Jesuits 
are  already  assuming  the  direction  or  the  actual  government 
of  our  largest  cities. 

Blackstone  in  his  day  made  this  note :  "  The  priests  would 
have  ingulfed  all  the  real  estate  of  England.  It  took  cen- 
turies  to  protect  and  perfect  the  nation  against  their  rapac- 
ity and  schemes  to  avoid  the  statutes." 

But  we  have  no  protection.  The  researches  of  Dexter 
A.  Hawkins  have  shown,  what  no  one  ventures  to  deny, 
that  the  Papal  Church  in  New  York  city  has  drawn  from 
the  public  treasury  in  the  past  eleven  years,  $6,007,118. 
In  1878  alone  she  drew  $710,350.  She  has  obtained  from 
the  city  donations  of  real  estate  to  the  amount  of  $3,500,000. 
On  an  average,  in  New  York  city,  she  has  received  from 
the  public  treasury  an  annual  gift  of  more  than  $500,000. 

The  Jesuits  are  the  prime  movers  in  these  schemes  of 
obtaining  control  of  the  large  centres  of  the  nation.^s  They 
are  likewise  doing  the  most  successful  work  in  the  Southera 
states.  Always  the  shrewd  and  artful,  but  respectful  and 
condescending  servants  of  the  church,  willing  to  become 
"not  merely  the  equal,  but  the  inferior,  of  the  lowest,"  by 
14 


210  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

boasting  that  they  see  no  difference  between  souls  on  ac- 
count of  the  color  of  the  skin,  and  by  looking  carefully  after 
all  forms  of  distress  and  want,  they  are  successfully  manip- 
ulating the  colored  voters,  and  have  been  more  success- 
ful with  them  than  we  could  wisli. 

Fifteen  years  ago  the  colored  Catholics  of  Washington 
could  have  been  gathered  in  a  room  fifteen  feet  square.  It 
is  now  reported  that  priest  Barotti  has  gathered  a  large 
congregation  of  colored  people  in  Washington,  "erecting 
for  them  the  most  magnificent  church-edifice  at  the  Federal 
capital."  Fifteen  years  ago  there  was  scarcely  a  score  of 
Catholic  voters  in  South  Carolina;  it  is  claimed  that  there 
are  to-day  not  less  than  fifty  thousand.  In  view  of  these 
facts,  true  of  other  Southern  cities  and  states,  it  looks  as 
though  Rome  is  seeking  to  bring  together,  for  her  support, 
the  "negro  vote  and  the  foreign  vote."     Then  what? 

Says  a  close  observer  of  political  afiiiirs :  "  The  other  day 
I  met  a  politician,  one  of  the  astutest  men  of  Massachusetts, 
and  he  said  to  me,  '  Lately  I  was  in  Washington,  and  went 
into  a  Romish  church  that  was  almost  a  cathedral,  and  found 
it  filled  with  negro  worshippers.  Do  you  think,'  he  whis- 
pered to  me,  '  that  it  is  possible  that  the  foreign  vote  and 
the  negro  vote  may  be  massed  together  and  exploited  by 
the  hand  on  the  Tiber?'" 

It  sometimes  seems  that  the  bit  of  paper,  with  a  list  of 
names  on  it,  dropped  from  black  and  brawny  fingers,  is  to 
seal,  some  day,  our  national  destiny.  How  much  like  a 
providence  of  God  it  would  be,  if  these  black  men,  in  some 
impending  crisis,  should  be  left  to  wreck  the  republic  which 
has  so  brutally  wronged  them! 

One  of  the  wisest  bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  211 

Church  North  has  spoken  words  which  deserve  a  place  in 
all  our  councils:  "The  black,  blind  giant  that  we  have 
admitted  to  tlie  temple  of  Liberty,  if  only  his  eyes  be 
couched,  may  buttress  its  walls ;  but  if  left  blind,  he  may, 
in  some  political  crisis,  where  the  beams  are  in  equipoise, 
pull  the  fair  fabric  to  the, ground." 

These  Jesuitical  priests,  who  are  doing  so  much  mis- 
chief in  the  United  States,  have  been  unendurable  in  other 
countries.  They  were  expelled  in  1507  from  Venice,  in 
1708  from  Holland,  in  1764  from  France,  in  1767  from 
Spain,  in  1820  from  Russia,  in  1829  from  England,  in  1872 
from  Germany,  and  in  1873  from  Italy.  They  have  been 
expelled  from  several  of  the  South  American  republics,  also 
from  Mexico,  and  have  just  been  pronounced  outlaws  in  the 
French  republic.  They  are  in  trouble  in  Bavaria,  Switzer- 
land, and  elsewhere.  The  United  States  is  therefore  likely 
henceforth  to  be  the  paradise  of  Jesuits.  They  can  flourish 
here  under  the  toleration  and  well-nigh  unrestricted  license 
of  our  free  institutions  as  nowhere  else.  Their  aggressive 
work  will  begin  just  as  soon  as  there  is  believed  to  be 
strength  enough  to  carry  it  out.  Every  intelligent  Papist 
understands  that  all  governments  are  de  facto  which  are 
not  established  or  authorized  by  the  Papal  Church,  that 
obedience  to  a  government  existing  de  facto  can  last  only 
while  the  church  permits  it,  and  that  the  church  permits  it 
only  so  long  as  she  is  unable  to  prevent  it. 

The  papal  power  will  all  the  sooner  dare  to  be  aggressive 
in  the  United  States  because  of  our  fierce  political  and  social 
strifes.  All  histoiy  shows  that  Popery  is  powerless  when 
watched  and  opposed  by  a  strong,  free,  and  united  people, 
but  under  the  leadership  of  Jesuits  she  instantly  rises  into  im- 


212  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [pakt 

portance  when  discords  rend  in  sunder  that  people.  Were 
we  of  this  country  united,  there  would  be  no  gi'ound  for 
immediate  alarm.  But  we  are  not  united;  we  are  divided, 
and  there  is  in  consequence  the  gravest  occasion  for  alarm. -^9 
There  is  no  relief  in  the  thouglit  of  a  future  united  political 
opposition.  With  neither  of  the  two  gi-eat  Protestant  polit- 
ical parties  are  Papists  friendly.  Indeed,  from  the  nature 
of  the  case,  they  are  hostile  to  both,  but  side  with  that 
from  which  the  greater  advantage  is  likely  to  be  gained. 
The  Pajjal  Church  is  seeking  from  the  democratic  party  at 
present  to  gain  money  and  favorable  legislation ;  but  when 
nothing  more  can  be  gained  by  her  present  alliance,  she 
with  her  heel  will  grind  that  party  into  the  dust.  Cannot 
the  two  parties  unite,  therefore,  in  unfurling  this  political 
banner?  "  There  shall  be  no  further  compromises  with  these 
enemies  of  the  republic.''^  Nay,  nay!  The  thoughts  of 
party  triumphs  are  too  captivating.  Men  are  hungiy  for 
office.  Pajml  adherents  hold  the  balance  of  power.  We 
shall  oppose  and  destroy  one  another,  then  Popery  will  have 
control  of  what  remains.  We  are  cursed  with  blindness 
and  demagogism,  and  with  timidity  in  proportion  to  our 
wealth.  And  since  one's  property,  family,  or  person  is 
safer  if  he  sides  with  the  stronger  and  more  aggressive 
party,  men  will  in  great  emergencies  take  that  safer  side. 
The  moment,  therefore,  that  the  papal  power  begins  its 
more  aggi-essive  work,  thousands  of  our  citizens  will  imme- 
diately acknowledge  allegiance.  Only  the  minority  in  such 
times  are  willing  to  be  martyrs.  A  mass  of  professional 
politicians,  who  have  no  principle,  and  who  are  always 
ready  to  enroll  themselves  under  any  banner  where  there  is 
pelf  or  plunder,  will  likewise  suddenly  side  with  Papists, 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  213 

and  become  the  fiercest  persecutors  within  its  communion. 
When  this  foreign  papal  power  begins  her  dictatorship,  the 
world  will  be  surprised  at  the  number  of  American  citizens 
who  are  willing  to  obey.  But  some  will  not  obey.  Then 
will  follow  a  conflict,  next  a  revolution,  and  after  that,  a 
demand  coming  from  every  freedom-loving  and  patriotic 
Protestant  the  country  over,  for  some  one  man  who  will 
dare  defy  the  Pope,  and  assume  a  military  sway  over  the 
United  States  of  America. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

EXISTING   PERILS.       SOCIAL   EVILS. 

The  student  of  history,  who  believes  that  the  past  tends  to 
repeat  itself,  is,  if  patriotic,  much  troubled  when  watching 
certain  tendencies  in  the  American  Republic.  He  knows 
that  the  selfishness  of  capital  and  the  discontents  of  labor 
have  united  in  cursing,  bitterly  cursing,  every  one  of  the 
extinct  republics.  Capital  in  the  United  States  is  already 
largely  unchristian  and  selfish.  Property,  to  the  disadvan- 
tage of  the  many,  is  rapidly  concentrating  in  the  hands  of 
the  few.  The  larger  establishments  in  every  department 
of  enterprise  and  industrj^,  the  owners  of  large  estates,  the 
heaviest  owners  in  corporations,  are  crippling  and  then  ab- 
sorbing the  smaller  ones.  The  rich  are  growing  richer, 
the  poor  poorer.  Capital  and  labor,  the  larger  capitalists 
and  the  smaller  ones,  are  consequently  bitterly  pitted 
against  each  other  in  every  state  in  the  Union,  with  no 
immediate  prospects  of  improved  conditions  or  relations. 
There  is  certainly  nothing  in  the  normal  laws  of  trade,  nor 
in  the  ordinary  laws  of  commerce,  which  can  evolve  or 
promise  improvement. 

Death,  followed  by  the  division  of  property ,  through  bequests 
or  among  legal  heirs,  has  in  this  country  afforded  partial  relief. 
Still,  the  rapidity  with  which  a  very  wealthy  man,  even  in 

214 


PARTivr.]  EXISTING  PEEILS.  215 

America,  can  add  almost  without  limitation  to  his  wealth, 
and  the  ease  with  which  he  can  impoverish  those  who  at- 
tempt competition,  are  a,  peril  of  no  small  magnitude.  All 
history  shows  that  wealth  grows  more  and  more  ambitious 
and  greedy;  poverty  more  and  more  restless  and  angry, 
with  no  possible  cure  for  either  except  revolution.  It  would 
be  a  national  safeguard,  whether  wise  or  unwise  we  do  not 
say,  if,  after  a  citizen  has  accumulated  a  given  amount,  say 
one,  five,  or  ten  millions  (a  limit  of  some  amount),  then, 
that  all  fiirther  increase  should  be  taken  by  the  government 
to  liquidate  public  debts,  or  to  be  expended  upon  public  im- 
provements. But  such  legislation  can  hardly  be  expected 
in  a  republic  like  ours  until  the  conflict  between  wealth  and 
poverty  have  brought  the  country  upon  the  brink,  or  into 
the  actual  throes  of  national  revolution. 

The  jealousies  and  animosities  growing  out  of  the  greed  of 
the  rich  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  equal  greed  of  the  poor 
on  the  other,  have  been  very  marked  during  the  last  half- 
score  years.  They  have  been  such  as  well-nigh  to  destroy 
confidence  between  man  and  man,  and  such  in  some  in- 
stances as  to  develop  murderous  threats,  if  not  murderous 
intentions.  What  has  rendered  these  embittered  feelings 
all  the  more  contagious  among  our  native  laborers  is  the 
fact  that  capital  and  corporations  have  in  too  many  in- 
stances been  bitterly  cruel.  The  experience  has  been  far 
too  general  that  a  few  corporation  managers,  by  enormous 
salaries  and  by  speculative  transactions,  have  absorbed  the 
interests  intrusted  to  them,  and  have  left  the  smaller  cred- 
itors helpless  and  penniless.  When  these  discoveries  are 
made,  it  need  not  be  thought  strange  that  "the  cheaper, 
poorer,  and  more  numerous  employes  should  seize  upon  the 


216  FATE   OF   REPUBLICS.  [part 

coarse  power  within  their  reach,  and  wield  it  for  self- 
defence."" 

While  the  National  Trust  Company  was  in  the  hands  of 
a  receiver,  a  woman  entered  the  office  and  asked  for  fifty 
dollars  out  of  money  that  she  had  placed  there  for  safety. 
The  clerk  said  he  could  do "  nothing  for  her,  and  she  then 
asked  for  twenty  dollars,  ten,  and  finally  for  five  dollars, 
saying  her  children  had  nothing  to  eat,  and  she  must  have 
something.  On  being  refused  even  five  dollars,  she  burst 
into  tears,  exclaiming,  "  O  my  God !  must  my  children  die, 
while  these  rich  thieves  keep  my  money?"  The  rich  are 
thus  looked  upon  by  the  poor  as  the  cause  of  their  poverty, 
and  therefore  the  worst  feelings  are  engendered. 

This  evil  has  extended  from  individuals  to  communities 
and  states.  Western  communities  are  in  debt  for  railroads, 
for  municipal  improvements,  for  defaulted  state  bonds, 
indeed  for  every  form  of  private  and  public  enterprise. 
For  twenty  years  they  have  been  trying  by  various  test 
cases  to  find  some  means  of  evading  the  payment  of  their 
negotiable  bonds.  An  able  journalist  has  thus  pictured  this 
struggle :  "  New  state  courts,  constituted  under  the  popular 
suffrage,  decided  the  laws  to  be  unconstitutional;  cities 
abandoned  their  charter  organizations  to  dodge  the  sheriffs, 
just  as  Mexican  officials  on  the  Rio  Grande  resign  to  block 
the  wheels  of  extradition;  states  forbade  cities  and  coun- 
ties to  levy  money  enough  to  pay  the  judgments.  But  out 
of  its  great  arsenal  the  Supreme  Federal  Court  issued  new 
writs  to  meet  each  new  exigency.  In  the  time  of  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  the  debtor  municipalities  even  mooted  a 
scheme  to  swamp  the  court  with  new  justices,  in  order  to 
thwart  the  *  bloated  bondholder '  of  that  day.     Many  of  the 


IV.]  EXISTING    PERILS.  217 

bondholders  involved  in  this  conflict  have  been  foreigners, 
and  many  others  of  them  citizens  of  eastern  states,  so  that 
the  suits  have  been  brought  in  the  Federal  courts,  and  heard 
before  justices  for  whom  popular  suffrage  had  no  terrors. 
The  cry  of  '  Bondholder,'  raised  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives as  a  term  of  reproach,  is  an  echo  of  this  long 
struggle,  and  utters  the  bitter  feeling  of  communities  which 
think  themselves  oppressed  by  creditors  whom  they  think 
relentless." 

When,  therefore,  the  New  England  and  New  York  con- 
gressmen and  press  characterize  other  congressmen  as  the 
"cheap  riff-raff  of  the  West  and  South, "*who  legislate  in 
the  interests  of  fraud  and  plunder ;  and  when  the  Western 
and  Southern  leaders  and  press  speak  of  the  "  horrid  capi- 
talists," and  "the  bloated  bondholders  who  live  along  the 
sea ;  "  when  Boston  and  New  York  protest  against  certain 
financial  measures  as  dishonest,  disreputable,  and  revolu- 
tionary ;  and  when  Chicago  and  New  Orleans  stigmatize 
the  protest  as  the  "  shriek  of  eastern  Shylocks ;  "  when,  in 
a  word,  the  two  links  which  are  so  vital  to  the  prosperity 
of  the  country  —  the  gold  link  and  the  iron  link  —  are  thus 
at  variance,  neither  believing  in,  nor  hardly  daring  to  trust 
the  other, — then  the  foundations  of  the  republic,  lacking  an 
essential  bond,  begin  to  crumble. 

In  the  midst  of  these  conflicts  between  capital  and  labor 
are  heard  sounds  the  most  of  all  to  be  dreaded  in  a  repub- 
lic, "  the  low  and  angry  mutterings  and  threats  of  the  idle, 
lazy,  thriftless,  profligate,  drunken  hordes  in  every  part  of 
the  country,  denouncing  prudence,  industry,  enterprise,  and 
thrift;  denouncing  property,  the  result  of  industry  and 
economy,  as  robbery,  and  denouncing  the  wages  of  labor 


218  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

as  a  degrading  badge  of  servitude  and  slaveiy ;  denouncing 
the  rich  as  the  enemies  of  the  country,  and  denouncing 
capital  as  the  deadliest  enemy  of  labor."  These  "flashes 
from  the  dark  bosom  of  the  multitude  have,  in  more  than 
one  instance,  revealed  giant  and  terrific  masses  of  barely 
suppressed  passion." 

Said  General  Garfield,  in  a  speech  delivered  during  the 
labor  troubles  of  1877:  "I  hold  in  my  hand  the  copies  of 
brief  but  eloquent  letters  and  telegrams  from  ten  great 
states  of  this  Union,  and  all  of  tliem  were  sent  within  one 
week,  calling  upon  the  President  of  the  United  States  for 
help;  ten  great  states,  reaching  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific,  Maryland  and  "West  Virginia  among  thehi;  ten 
great  states,  among  them  California  and  the  empire  states 
of  the  Northwest,  calling  for  the  arms  of  the  republic  to 
shield  and  save  in  their  liour^of  distress.  I  therefore  say 
boldly,  while  I  will  do  as  much  as  he  who  will  do  most  to 
secure  the  rights  of  labor  against  iniquitous  laws,  and 
against  tlie  assaults  of  capital,  when  used  unjustly,  yet 
against  all  comers  I  am  for  the  reign  of  law  in  this  repub- 
lic, and  for  an  army  large  enough  to  make  it  sure."  In 
such  times  of  trouble,  idlers  in  many  ways  make  their 
unwholesome  presence  felt,  and  darken  the  air  with  plots 
against  the  security  of  property.  These  threatenings  are 
like  the  roar  of  breakers  on  a  lee  shore. 

Macaulay,  speaking  of  the  disturbed  reign  of  James  the 
Second,  says :  "  On  such  occasions  it  will  ever  be  found 
that  the  human  vermin  which,  neglected  by  ministers  of 
state  and  ministers  of  religion, — barbarians  in  the  midst 
of  civilization,  heathens  in  the  midst  of  Christianity, — 
who  burrow  among  all  physical  and  moral  pollution  in  the 


IV.]  EXISTING   PERILS.  219 

cellars  and  garrets  of  great  cities,  will  rise  at  once  into 
teiTible  importance.'"  What  adds  to  the  danger  is  the  fact, 
that  when  crops  are  short,  and  breadstiiflfs  dear,  or  when 
business  is  depressed  and  wages  low,  then,  ambitious  and 
rotten,  thrice  rotten  politicians  are  found  in  waiting  to  ftm 
into  flames  the  bad  passions  of  both  the  laboring  and  the 
idle  masses.  For  three  years,  ending  last  year,  these  rude 
political  and  revolutionary  orators  were  busy  calling  the 
attention  of  the  workingmen  of  the  country  to  the  sharp 
contrasts  between  the  splendor  of  accumulated  wealth  and 
the  squalor  of  pitiless  poverty.  The  workers  in  coal-minQS 
throughout  the  country  were  told  to  compare  their  un- 
healthy lives  below  ground  with  the  sunshine,  wealth,  and 
power  of  the  mine-owners.  These  reckless  demagogues, 
with  their  brutal  oratory,  spoke,  and  men  out  of  employ- 
ment, men  working  on  half-time  and  at  reduced  wages, 
listened,  and  began  to  feel  that  virtue  no  longer  resided  in 
honest  labor.  Iron-workers  all  over  the  country  paused, 
gazed  at  the  dismantled  forge,  and  returned  its  sullen  look 
with  similar  looks  of  their  own.  They  paused,  and  looked, 
and  then  muttered  their  curses  against  the  wealth  that  was 
able  to  make  the  "lockout." 

Such  have  been  our  experiences  within  three  years ;  but 
now  that  there  is  a  slight  revival  of  business,  with  readier 
employment,  we  have  forgotten  everything.  Americans 
are  among  the  most  forgetful  of  nations.  Short  crops,  dear 
breadstuffs,  depressed  business,  low  wages,  and  unemployed 
masses,  no  longer  enter  into  our  calculations  of  the  future. 
But  they  should.  Rome  once  found  that  she  must  give  em- 
ployment to  her  citizens,  or  the  rude  masses  would  render 
life  within  her  walls  unendurable.     She  gave  employment, 


220  FATE  OF  RErUBLICS.  [part 

whereupon  all  the  surrounding  countries  poured  upon  her 
their  suii>lus  populations,  and  tlie  second  condition  of  Rome 
was  worse  than  the  first. 

It  is  the  same  in  America.  Eveiy  revival  of  business  sets 
a  flood-tide  of  foreigners  to  our  shores.  It  is  estimated  that 
the  present  year  will  add  three  hundred  thousand  immigrants 
to  our  population.  Wise  men  are  beginning  to  feel  that  the 
generosity  with  which  we  receive  these  new-comers  is 
thoughtless  and  reckless.  Formerly  we  imported  cloth; 
latterly  we  have  imported  the  laborer  and  manufactured 
cloth.  A  few  years  since,  Mr.  Emerson  remarked  that  he 
could  not  tell  which  is  the  wiser  policy;  to-day  it  is  appar- 
ent enough  which  would  have  been  the  safer  policy. 

Were  these  additions  to  our  citizenship,  in  each  instance, 
good  and  patriotic  men,  we  should  be  the  richer  for  every 
immigi'ant  ship  entering  our  ports.  But  somehow  these 
arrivals,  in  many  instances,  have  been  much  to  our  disad- 
vantage. 

Our  first  popular  infidelity  is  traceable  directly  to  Euro- 
pean soldiery,  sent  to  this  country  just  before  and  during 
the  Revolution.  The  earliest  communistic  crusade  in  this 
country  was  preached  by  foreigners,  by  Owen  in  person, 
aided  by  such  socialists  as  G.  H.  and  F.  W.  Evans,  Fanny 
Wright,  and  A.  J.  Macdonald.  The  present  threatening 
communistic  and  socialistic  organizations  would  never  have 
been  known  among  us  but  for  the  presence  of  those  foreign- 
ers who  are  destitute  of  both  patriotism  and  religion. 
Men  of  this  class  have  been  held  in  check  by  the  military 
arm  of  European  states,  and  hence  they  have  resolved  to 
experiment  in  the  United  States. 60  Molly  Maguirism  is 
agrarianism  imported    from  Ireland.      Tramps,   infesting 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  221 

every  state  of  the  Union  where  they  are  not  legally  inter- 
dicted, are  mostly  of  foreign  birth.  Labor  troubles  were 
scarcely  known  in  the  United  States  until  the  majority  of 
our  laborers  were  foreigners.  They  have  come  from  every 
kind  of  European  oppression,  and  from  the  slums  of  poverty. 
They  have  here  received  compensation,  not,  perhaps,  in 
every  case  such  as  could  have  been  afforded,  but  certainly 
far  greater  than  in  any  other  country  or  in  any  other  period 
of  history.  Still  they  have  been  dissatisfied  and  restless.^i 
And  what  adds  to  our  perplexity  is,  that  the  second  genera- 
tion is  worse  than  the  first.  The  industrious  and  polite 
type  of  Irishman  whom  we  met  twenty  years  ago,  is  rapidly 
giving  place  to  the  indolent  and  insolent  American-born 
descendant. 

If  these  foreign  poisoas  affected  only  those  who  have 
foreign  blood  or  who  bear  the  foreign  name,  we  should  be 
comparatively  safe,  at  least  for  the  present.  But  all  who 
are  engaged  in  manual  labor,  whether  native  or  foreign 
citizens,  have  been  more  or  less  fevered  and  injured. 

The  perils  are  all  the  greater  because  these  foreign, 
restless,  and  dissatisfied  masses  instinctively  gravitate  to- 
wards cities,  manufacturing  communities,  and  mining  dis- 
tricts. One  hundred  years  ago  only  one  thirtieth  of  the 
population  of  the  United  States  lived  in  cities  of  over  eight 
thousand  people.  In  1800  the  proportion  of  population 
living  in  cities  having  above  eight  thousand  was  one 
twenty-fifth;  in  1810,  and  also  in  1820,  one  twentieth;  in 
1830,  one  sixteenth;  in  1840,  one  twelflh;  in  1850,  one 
eighth;  in  1860,  one  sixth;  in  1870,  a  little  over  one  fifth. 
It  is  thought  that  the  next  census  will  show  a  still  further 
increase  of  the  population  of  cities,  and  that  they  wiU  con- 


222  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

tain  fully  twelve  millions  instead  of  eight  millions,  which 
was  the  number  in  1870.  New  York  is  to-clay  the  largest 
Irish  centre  in  the  world.  It  is  more  Celtic  than  Dublin. 
The  naturalized  voters  of  New  York  city  outnumber  the 
natives  by  fifty  thousand. 

Unrestricted  immigration  and  an  almost  unqualified  fran- 
chise have  taken,  in  some  localities,  the  civil  government 
entirely  from  property-owners,  and  from  the  patriotic  and 
industrious  yeomanry  of  the  country,  and  placed  it  in  the 
hands  of  those  who  have  not  a  single  qualification  entitling 
them  to  a  voice  in  the  affairs  of  our  republic.  The  condi- 
tion of  New  York  city  has  already  been  alarming.62  Im- 
provement in  the  character  of  its  future  citizenship  can 
hardly  be  expected.  New  York,  comparatively,  is  only  a 
village.  Not  far  hence  she  is  to  be  a  city  of  imperial  mag- 
nitude. "  Put  Chicago  and  New  York  together,"  says  an 
honored  lecturer,  "  and  you  have  not  made  a  London.  Put 
in  Brooklyn,  and  you  have  not  made  a  London.  Even  put 
in  Boston,  and  you  have  not  made  a  London!  St.  Louis, 
San  Francisco,  and  New  Orleans,  massed  there  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Hudson,  would  not  make  a  London.  Only  a 
little  over  three  million  inhabitants  that  would  make,  while 
London  claims,  officially,  just  under  four  millions.  We 
ultimately  shall  have  a  city  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson  as 
large  as  the  city  that  lies  on  the  Thames."  But  London  is 
only  a  village  as  compared  with  Nineveh  or  Babylon. 
When  there  is  a  Babylon  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson,  there 
will  speedily  be  a  doom  worse  than  that  which  befell 
Babylon  on  the  Euphrates. 

There  is  no  escaping  the  additional  painful  fact,  that  the 
population  of  our  cities  is  to  increase  in  the  future  but  little, 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  223 

comparatively,  from  American  births.  American  ladies 
are,  in  too  many  instances,  Roman  ladies  over  again. ^ 
The  increase  is  to  be  from  births  among  our  foreign  popula- 
tion, and  from  free  immigration.  Native  Americans  are 
already  crowded  out  of  some  localities  by  men  who  have 
been  reared  under  monarchical  institutions;  men  who 
apjjear  to  have  no  clear  idea  of  the  principles  upon  which 
our  institutions  are  based ;  men  who  seem  to  have  a  desire 
to  exchange  the  independence  of  American  citizenship  for 
a  serfdom,  in  wiiich  the  government  shall  take  its  citizens, 
feed  them  from  public  cribs,  and  build  them  houses  to  live 
in.  The  men  who  are  filling  and  controlling  not  only  New 
York,  but  likewise  other  great  cities  of  the  United  States, 
are  the  men  from  whom  those  who  have  property  and  fami- 
lies to  protect  may  well  start  back  with  alarm,  if  not  with 
horror. 

In  connection  with  this  thought  of  domination  in  politics, 
we  have  already  spoken  of  Papal  designs.  If  she  can 
keep  the  masses  in  ignorance,  or,  what  is  nearly  the  same, 
keep  tliem  in  her  own  schools,  she  will  work  all  the  mis- 
chief we  can  well  bear.  But  if  she  cannot  do  this,  then 
we  are  in  danger  of  something  which  is  worse  than 
Popery. 

There  is  said  to  be  a  custom  among  the  robbers  of  Italy, 
requiring  that  when  a  new  confederate  is  brought  into  a 
gang  of  thieves  he  shall  load  a  pistol,  hold  it  before  a 
crucifix,  and  fire  it  at  the  figure  of  our  Lord.  It  is  supposed 
that  whoever  has  the  audacity  to  do  that,  will  not  hesitate 
to  do  anything  required  of  the  most  desperate  brigand.  A 
Papist  who  does  violence  to  his  convictions  in  renouncing 
his  faith,  is  as  much  to  be  dreaded  as  the  most  zealous 


224  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

Papal  devotee.  When  a  bisliop  of  Pari?,  in  1871,  was 
brought  before  Raoul  Rigault,  one  of  the  boldest  of  the 
Communists,  the  venerable  ecclesiastic,  addressing  his 
accusers,  said,  "Children,  what  do  you  wish  to  do  with 
me?"  "We  are  your  betters,"  said  Rigault,  who  was 
hardly  thirty  years  of  age.  "  Speak  as  if  to  your  superiors. 
Who  are  you  ? "  The  bishop,  whose  charities  had  been 
knoM^n  in  Paris  for  a  generation,  replied,  "I  am  the  servant 
of  God."  "  Where  does  he  live?  "  asked  Rigault.  "  Every- 
where," was  the  answer.  "Very  well,"  said  the  Commu- 
nist, "  send  this  bishop  to  prison,  and  issue  an  order  for  the 
arrest  of  one  God,  who  lives  everywhere." 

To  smite  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  without  having  a 
better  religion  to  offer,  is  reckless  in  the  extreme,  because 
the  views  of  the  elder  communists  will  be  the  substitute 
for  no  religion  in  the  United  States.  "In  religion  they 
were  atheist  and  infidel;  in  pliilosophy  they  were  posi- 
tivists;  in  political  economy  they  were  destructionists  or 
levellers."  The  American  descendants  of  French  commu- 
nism art  entertaining  much  the  same  views.  They  disregard 
the  sanctity  of  the  Sabbath,  and  the  rights  of  others.  They 
perv^ert  and  overstate  notions  of  liberty  —  as  the  mob, 
caiTying  the  heart  of  a  baker  on  a  pole,  indignant  at  the 
protest  of  Lafayette,  exclaimed,  "  Is  this  our  boasted  liberty, 
that  we  cannot  kill  whom  we  please?"  They  enthrone  a 
selfish  interest  over  all  society.  They  are  oppressive  to  the 
individual,  dictating  what  he  shall  and  what  he  shall  not 
do.  They  are  ruinous  to  every  branch  of  industry,  destroy- 
ing all  fair  competition.  They  are  dangerous  to  the  repub- 
lic, hastening  the  possibility  and  necessity  of  an  oligarchy 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  225 

or  a  monarchy,  at  least  some  centralized  power  to  keep 
their  lawlessness  in  check. 

Not  all  who  belong  to  the  labor  organizations  of  the 
country  entertain  these  extreme  views.  Yet  there  are,  in 
many  respects,  strong  bonds  of  sympathy  between  them, 
and  there  are  possible  combinations  among  these  organiza- 
tions that  will,  some  day,  paralyze  every  industry  through- 
out the  country. 

Their  aggressive  movements  in  1877  were  not  well 
matured  or  organized.  Nevertheless,  several  states  were 
greatly  agitated.  Since  the  suppression  of  the  riots  of 
that  summer  (1877),  the  work  of  forming  secret  labor  or- 
ganizations has  been  prosecuted  with  remarkable  vigor. 
At  present  it  is  estimated  that  there  are  one  million  five 
hundred  thousand  voters  who  belong  to  secret  associations 
in  the  United  States,  and  whose  avowed  purpose  is  to 
acquire  political  power,  and  govern  the  country  in  such  a 
way  as  to  cripple  capital,  and  promote  the  interests  of 
manual  laborers.  This  purpose  may  be  seen  in  the  follow- 
ing mottoes,  taken  from  the  walls  of  the  rooms  where  these 
organizations  meet,  and  from  banners  which  they  parade 
through  public  streets :  —  "  Government  protection  from  the 
cradle  to  the  gi-ave."  "  Nationalization  of  land,  labor,  edu- 
cation, and  insurance."  "  The  interest  on  money  is  a  direct 
tax  to  support  wealthy  paupers."  "  The  government  should 
be  the  superintendent  of  trade  and  commerce,  and  the  em- 
ployer of  the  people."  "Hunger  knows  no  law."  "Let 
Fall  River  remember  that  Moscow  was  burned  to  ashes." 
"  Labor  must  be  crowned  king,  even  if  it  wades  knee-deep 
in  blood."  "We  stand  ready  on  election  day  to  take  the 
life  of  any  man,  be  he  United  States  supervisor  or  other 
15 


226  ,•?  .         .       .  'FA-TE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

officer,  who  attempts  to  debar  voters  from  exercising  the 
right  of  suffrage."  "  We,  the  workingmen,  are  in  the  ma- 
jority, and  shall  install  our  candidate  though  the  streets 
run  with  blood."  "Gold  sharks  and  Eastern  gold  bulls 
must  be  forced  to  disgorge."  "What  is  the  oppressed 
laborer  to  do  now?  Let  him  join  with  his  fellows,  and  light 
the  fires  of  a  glorious  revolution  that  will  rid  the  world  of 
so  many  useless  aristocrats,  and  make  America  really,  as 
well  as  in  name,  '  the  land  of  the  free.'  UP  WITH  THE 
RED  FLAG,  AND  DOWN  WITH  ARISTOCRACY." 

We  repeat,  not  all  in  these  labor  societies  are  thus 
violent,  but  there  are  multitudes  who  stand  ready  to  prac- 
tise upon  the  principles  embodied  in  these  mottoes. 

"The  Socialistic  Labor  Party  of  the  United  Stfites," 
founded  by  German  political  refugees  some  six  years  ago, 
is  now  supposed  to  contain  twenty-five  thousand  members. 
Tlie  following  is  a  brief  published  statement  of  its  aims: 
"The  entire  overthrow  of  the  present  social  system;  the 
abolition  of  all  personal  property  in  land  and  other  means 
of  production,  and  their  cession  to  the  state ;  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  co-operative  plan  in  labor,  so  that  every  laborer 
may  be  a  partner  in  every  factory  or  workshop ;  the  com- 
pulsory limitation  of  the  hours  of  labor  to  eight  hours  a  day 
or  less,  according  to  the  requirements  of  the  unemployed 
workmen ;  the  regulation  of  the  prices  of  labor  by  arbitra- 
tion between  the  employer  and  the  employed,  until  the 
co-operative  system  is  introduced;  compulsory  education, 
and  the  opening  of  all  colleges  and  universities  free  to  all 
classes;  the  abolition  of  savings-banks;  the  abolition  of 
direct  taxation,  and  the  institution  of  a  scaled  income  tax; 
and  the  taxation  of  all  church  property." 


iv.J  EXISTING  ^^^^^S^iTpQTT^ 

Nihilism,  too,  persecuted  in  Russia,  is  seeking  the  fostering 
atmosphere  of  the  United  States.  It  is  taking  hold  upon 
minds  comparatively  well  educated,  and,  in  some  instances, 
of  brilliant  qualities.  More  or  less  pronounced,  it  has  been 
heard  from  platforms  in  nearly  every  state  East  and  West. 
A  well-known,  popular  American -born  lawyer  has  become 
its  unwearied  defender  and  advocate.  A  concise  statement 
of  this  scourge,  Nihilism,  as  uttered  by  one  of  its  apostles, 
is  the  following:  "Take  the  earth  and  heaven,  church  and 
state,  take  kings  and  Deity,  and  spit  on  them  —  that's  our 
doctrine." 

Medore  Savini  says  that,  "A  country  does  not  live  behind 
fortitied  castles ;  it  lives  in  the  breasts  of  the  citizens."  But 
with  such  a  citizenship,  where  are  our  defences? 

As  might  be  expected,  crime  is  rapidly  on  the  increase. 
False  theories  always  ultimately  lead  to  false  or  perilous 
conduct.  From  statistics  recently  given,  it  appears  that  in 
1872  there  were  confined  in  the  state  prisons  of  the  countiy, 
for  the  graver  offences,  some  sixteen  thousand  criminals; 
in  1878,  there  were  not  less  than  thirty-two  thousand  —  an 
increase  in  six  years  unimralleled,  perhaps,  in  the  history 
of  crime.  But  if  all  the  convicts  and  those  awaiting  trial 
had  been  counted,  the  number  would  have  reached  sixty 
thousand,  —  three  times  larger  than  that  of  the  effective  army 
of  the  United  States.  And  what  makes  it  still  more  alarming 
is  the  fact  that  the  vast  majority  of  these  convicts  were  con- 
siderably under  thirty  years  of  age  at  their  first  conviction. 

This  increase  of  crime  is  especially  marked  in  the  veiy 
places  where  it  is  most  to  be  dreaded.  From  1860  to  1877, 
the  population  of  New  York  increased  fifty  per  cent.,  but 
the  criminal  commitments  three  hundred  per  cent.     The 


228  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

most  deplorable  feature  is  that  those  who  are  high  in  office, 
and  who  manage  city  affairs,  are  the  worst  of  criminals,  and 
yet  often  succeed  in  escaping  punishment.  Said  Judge 
Davis,  while  commenting  on  "  The  Ring  Frauds : "  "  The 
history  of  these  trials  develops  what,  I  think,  the  history  of 
no  civilized  nation,  and  probably  of  no  barbarous  people, 
has  so  clearly  developed  —  the  organization  of  a  body  of 
public  officers  for  the  sole  purpose  of  robbing  and  plunder- 
ing those  who  had  put  them  in  power.  The  worst  feature 
of  it  all  is  that  the  whole  body  of  these  conspirators  go  sub- 
stantially unwhipped  of  justice To  my  mind,  this 

presents  a  spectacle  so  abhorrent  to  my  notions  of  justice, 
that,  in  disposing  of  the  last  of  these  cases  —  as  I  suppose 
this  to  be  —  I  cannot  help  taking  advantage  of  the  oppor- 
tunity to  condemn  it  as  a  parody  of  public  justice.  It  is  a 
great  public  wrong  that  these  men  should  have  escaped 
from  all  substantial  punishment  for  their  crimes." 

Keeping  in  mind  the  facts  already  presented,  and  ex- 
tending the  range  of  vision  so  as  to  take  in  not  merely  cities 
here  and  there,  but  the  countr}'-  at  lai-ge,  there  is  found  in 
present  tendencies  not  much  to  inspire  encouragement. 
Had  the  United  States  England's  ratio  of  inhabitants  to  the 
square  mile,  the  population  would  almost  equal  the  present 
population  of  the  globe.  But  long  before  that  is  reach(;d, 
the  feebleness  of  Congress  to  maintain  order  will  probably 
be  apparent. 64 

Lord  Macaulay,  in  letters  written  in  1858,  predicted  that 
whenever  the  United  States  have  a  population  of  two 
hundred  to  the  square  mile,  the  Jeffersonian  and  Jacksonian 
theories  of  our  civil  polity  will  produce  fatal  results. 
Europe  has  only  eighty  inhabitants  to  the  square  mile.     Is 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  229 

Macaulay  extravagant  in  saying  that  when  we  have  two 
hundred  to  the  square  mile  we  shall  be  obliged  to  manage 
our  politics  on  some  other  supposition  than  that  which  sup- 
poses that  government  can  be  successfully  administered 
"  by  a  majority  of  the  citizens,  that  is  to  say,  by  the  poorest 
and  most  ignorant  part  of  society  "  ?  65  New  York,  Cincin- 
nati, Chicago,  and  St.  Louis,  already  have  crimsoned  pave- 
ments. 

If,  with  vast  areas  of  unoccupied  land  about  us;  if, 
with  the  largest  possibilities  for  obtaining  wealth  at  our 
command,  we  have  had  occasion  for  alarai,  what  will  be 
likely  to  transpire  when  our  multiplied  citizenship  is  pent 
up,  and  when  existing  possibilities  are  cut  off  or  restricted? 
Unless  there  is  a  change  in  the  character  of  immigrants, 
and  in  the  thinking  of  the  laboring  masses,  the  day  is 
hastening  when  men  will  not  talk  of  a  "third  term,"  nor  of 
a  tenth  term,  but  will  submit  to  any  arm  for  any  term 
which  can  give  security  to  person  and  property.  There  can 
be  no  dictatorehip  in  this  country  until  the  majority  of  our 
leading  citizens  demand  it.  Then  there  can  be,  and  then 
there  will  be  and  ought  to  be.  Our  danger  is  not  from  in- 
dividual usurpation ;  for,  if  it  were  oppressive,  the  usurper 
would  be  killed.  Our  danger  is  the  mob,  both  in  Congress 
and  out  of  it,  which  we  cannot  kill.  Patriotic  citizens  have 
already  been  heard  to  say  that,  sooner  than  be  ruled  by 
foreign  Papal  masses,  or  by  foreign  infidel  hordes,  or  by 
both  in  combination  under  coalitions  formed  by  Jesuits,  or 
by  ambitious  political  demagogues,  they  would  rather  the 
wrecked  republic  —  such  it  then  would  be  —  should  dis- 
appear forever  from  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 


CHAPTER    V. 

EXISTING   PERILS.       POLITICAL    EVILS. 

The  dividing  line  between  the  real  or  supposed  limits 
of  state  and  national  rights  under  our  federal  compact  is 
an  object  of  contention,  and  when  other  differences  are 
silenced,  will  divide  the  people  of  the  United  States  into  two 
great  political  parties.  The  absolute  sovereignty  of  the 
individual  state  to  control  its  own  affairs,  civil  and  judicial, 
without  any  interference  from  the  General  Government,  is, 
in  a  word,  the  doctrine  of  State  Rights.  It  involves  the 
right  to  conduct  state  elections,  and  decide  upon  returns, 
without  the  presence  of  Federal  officers  or  bayonets.  It 
carries  with  it  the  right  to  authorize  any  social  customs 
desired  by  the  majority,  sucli  as  slavery,  polygamy,  or  ex- 
clusion of  Chinese  workmen,  and  even  the  right  of  the 
state  to  secede  from  the  Union  when  the  interests  of  the 
state  would  seem  thereby  to  be  better  promoted. 

In  a  modified  form,  the  doctrine  claims  that  allegiance  to 
the  State  is  primary,  to  the  Union,  secondary.  The  state 
flag  holds  the  first  place,  the  stars  and  stripes  the  second. 
The  opposing  party  claims  that  the  General  Government 
should  extend  protection  to  an  American  citizen  any- 
where within  her  domains  —  protection  in  the  field  or  in  the 
shop,  in  courts  of  justice  or  at  the  polls,  and  that  if  this 

230 


PART  IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  231 

protection  can  be  secured  in  no  other  way,  then  the  entire 
army  and  navy  should  be  brought  into  requisition.  Hence, 
on  the  one  hand,  the  State-rights  party  logically  approves 
the  act  of  the  present  administration  in  withdrawing  Federal 
troops  from  the  Southern  States,  though  in  those  states  the 
legal  voter  is  no  longer  safe  if  he  casts  or  defends  a  ballot 
which  conflicts  with  the  opinions  of  the  so-termed  Bourbon 
leaders.  But  on  the  other  hand,  the  parij  which  opposes 
these  views  must  logically  condemn  the  withdrawal  of 
troops  from  any  state  of  the  Union,  south  or  north,  where 
the  person  or  property  of  a  citizen  is  insecure.  A  citizen 
of  the  United  States  ought,  it  is  claimed,  to  be  as  safe  in 
Louisiana  as  in  Liberia. 

The  State-rights  party  logically  defends  also  the  doctrine 
of  secession.  The  opposing  party  denies  this  right.68  The 
one  party  asserts  that  the  federal  compact  is  simply  a  free 
and  dissoluble  association  of  states,  like  tlie  leagues  of  the 
Grecian  commonwealths,  or  like  those  of  the  free  cities  of 
Germany.  The  other  party  claims  that  the  states  are  a 
nation,  and  that  the  nation  has  no  alternative  but  to  ordain 
and  execute  impartial  laws  for  the  protection  of  the  lives 
and  the  rights  of  national  citizens. 

By  the  State-rights  party  it  is  claimed  that  our  danger  is 
from  too  great  centralization  in  the  executive  branch  of  the 
government,  with  a  tendency  to  merge  the  presidency  into 
a  monarchy.  The  opposing  party  insists  that  while  at  pres- 
ent there  is  a  tendency  to  centralization,  it  is  not  towards 
the  executive,  but  towards  Congress.  Therefore  it  is  not 
a  monarchy  which  is  threatening  the  nation,  but  an  oli- 
garchy. 

We  hope  we  do  no  injustice  when  we  say  that  the  leaders 


232  FATE   OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

of  the  South  have  never  abandoned  this  dogma  of  Btate 
Rights.  Hon.  Alexander  Stephens  was  its  chief  defender 
twenty  years  ago.  He  is  to-day.  The  theory  with  the 
South  is  not,  as  it  is  with  tlie  North,  State  rights  under  the 
Constitution  and  in  the  Union ;  but  State  rights  independent 
of  the  Union  and  above  the  Constitution.  The  constitution 
of  the  State  of  Georgia  declares  that  treason  consists  in 
levying  war  against  the  State  of  Georgia,  and  in  giving 
aid  and  comfort  to  her  enemies.  A  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  for  speaking  or  fighting  in  behalf  of  the  General 
Government,  could  upon  the  theory  of  State  rights  be 
legally  hung  in  Georgia  upon  the  charge  of  treason.  Such 
is  the  logical  outcome  of  State  rights.  We  thus  reach  the 
vital  issue  involved  in  this  controversy,  which  at  jiresent 
perplexes  and  irritates  the  nation,  namely,  Shall  the  citizen 
be  protected  in  his  political  riglits?  A  part  of  the  country 
says,  Yes;  anotlier  part  just  as  emphatically  says,  No. 

Said  General  Toombs,  upon  the  floor  of  the  convention 
that  framed  the  present  constitution  of  Georgia:  "They 
[the  freedmen]  are  to  be  governed,  as  every  race  of  paupers 
is  governed,  by  those  who  own  the  property  and  give  them 
bread.  .  .  .  No  inferior  man,  no  man  without  civilization, 
has  a  chance  in  this  race.  ...  As  his  friends  tried  to  govern 
him  hy  force  and  fraud,  we  will  control  him  ey  force 
AND  FRAUD,  to  prevent  him  from  bringing  ruin  to  us." 

Our  purpose  is  not  to  increase  political  invitation  in  say- 
ing that  the  force  and  fraud  thus  far  employed  by  the 
South  in  governing  the  freedmen  scarcely  have  a  parallel 
in  the  world^s  history. 

The  Hon.  Reverdy  Johnson,  of  Maiyland,  was  employed 
by  the  Ku-klux  of  South  Carolina  to  defend  their  brethren 


IV.]  EXISTING   PERILS.  233 

in  bonds.  After  listening  to  the  evidence,  he  conckided  the 
presentation  of  tlie  case  in  these  words : 

"You  have  pleaded  guilty  to  an  indictment  which 
charges  you  .  .  . 

*'  We  acknowledge  gi'eat  perplexity  in  determining  what 
punishment  shall  be  meted  out  to  you.  We  have  no  words 
strong  enough  to  signify  our  horror  at  the  means  em- 
ployed. .  .  . 

"You  have,  as  it  appears  from  your  statements  to  the 
court,  been  brought  up  in  the  most  deplorable  ignorance. 
At  the  age  of  manhood,  but  one  or  two  of  you  can  either 
read  or  write,  and  you  have  lived  in  a  community  Avhere 
the  evidence  seems  to  establish  the  fact  that  the  men  of 
prominence  and  education  —  those  who  by  their  superiority 
in  these  respects  establish  and  control  public  opinion  — 
were  for  the  most  part  participants  in  the  conspiracy,  or  so 
much  in  terror  of  it,  that  you  could  obtain  from  them  neither 
protection  nor  advice,  had  you  sought  it. 

"  But  what  is  quite  as  appalling  to  the  court  as  the  hor- 
rible nature  of  these  offences,  is  the  utter  absence  on  your 
part,  and  on  the  part  of  others  who  have  made  confession 
here,  of  any  sense  of  feeling  that  you  have  done  anything 
very  wrong. 

"  Some  of  j^our  comrades  recite  the  circumstances  of  a 
brutal,  unprovoked  murder,  done  by  themselves,  with  as 
little  apparent  abhorrence  as  they  would  relate  the  incidents 
of  a  picnic,  and  you  yourselves  speak  of  the  number  of 
blows  with  a  hickory  which  you  inflicted  at  midnight  upon 
the  lacerated,  bleeding  back  of  a  defenceless  woman,  with- 
out so  much  as  a  blush  or  sigh  of  regret.  None  of  you 
seem  to  have  the  slightest  idea  of,  or  respect  for,  the  sacred- 


234  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

ness  of  the  human  person.  Some  of  you  have  yourselves 
been  beaten  by  the  Klans  without  feeling  a  smart  but  the 
physical  pain.  There  appears  to  be  no  wounding  of  the 
spirit,  no  such  sense  of  injury  to  yourself  as  a  man,  as 
would  be  felt  by  the  humblest  of  your  fellow-citizens  in  any 
other  part  of  the  United  States  with  which  I  am  acquainted." 
These  are  facts,  facts  admitting  of  no  denial,  which  may 
well  lead  every  virtuous  citizen,  north  and  west,  to  say  with 
Mark  Antony  when  in  presence  of  the  dead  Cresar : 

"  Oh,  pardon  me,  thou  blcedino^  piece  of  earth. 
That  I  am  meek  and  gentle  with  these  butchers." 

It  must  be  admitted  that  if  the  General  Government 
allows  force  and  fraud  in  Georgia,  then  it  must  allow  the 
same  in  Maine  and  in  Oregon. 

It  must  still  further  be  acknowledged  that  one  of  the  most 
serious  matters  involved  in  this  controversy  is,  that  the  dogma 
of  State  Rights  leads  to  the  view  that  while  treason  is  a  pos- 
sible crime  in  an  individual  state,  it  is  not  a  possible  crime 
while  acting  with  a  state  against  the  government  of  the 
United  States.  All  majesty  is  vested  in  the  individual  states, 
none  in  the  federal  compact,  is  the  theor}^  of  our  state  and 
national  governments  which  has  been  of  late  years  practi- 
cally carried  out.  That  is,  if  treason  is  possible  in  the  United 
States,  then  the  Southern  Rebellion  was  treason,  and  the 
chief  secession  leaders  were  traitors.  And  if  traitors,  then 
a  heavy  indictment  ought  to  have  followed  their  defeat. 
Yet  those  engaged  in  the  rebellion  have  not  been  indicted 
for  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  nor  scarcely  rebuked. 
Indeed,  they  have  taken  the  place  of  special  favorites. 
Says  Senator  Hill,  of  Georgia :  "  I  do  not  know  what  else 


IV.]  EXISTING    PERILS.  235 

may  happen  in  the  future,  but  this  much  I  do  know:  come 
what  may,  the  Southern  people  will  never  confess  them- 
selves traitors."  And  the  North,  by  the  course  pursued, 
ought  not  henceforth  to  find  fault  with  the  senator  from 
Georgia.  It  has  been  forcibly  said,  that  "a  traitor  lives 
only  to  be  abhorred,  and  we  submit  that  the  appointment 
of  Confederate  generals  to  important  Federal  offices,  the 
reception  given  to  them  by  the  people  of  the  North,  the 
honors  paid  in  Congress  to  the  vice-president  of  the  Confed- 
eracy, which  are  only  illustrations  of  Northern  sentiment, 
preclude  us  from  denouncing  secessionists  as  traitors." 

Only  sixteen  years  ago  the  rebellion  was  crushed.  Since 
that  time,  men  who  led  in  that  rebellion  investigated  in 
Congress  the  title  of  the  present  cliief  Executive.  Can 
men  exercising  such  functions  any  longer  be  called  traltoi-s? 
They  are  controlling  both  branches  of  Congi'ess.  Unre- 
buked  they  have  used  insolent  language  against  those  wlio 
spilt  their  blood  and  poured  out  their  treasures  to  preserve 
the  Union.  Can  men  who  are  permitted  to  do  this  be 
called,  with  any  propriety,  traitors?  We  are  allowing  the 
country  to  pass  into  the  hands  of  men  who  fought  against 
it,  and  we  are  allowing  the  Treasury  keys  to  pass  into  hands 
that  not  long  since  rifled  tlie  Treasury  vaults  for  funds  to 
wage  war  against  tlie  Union.  Can  we  call  such  honored 
national  favorites,  traitors?  The  people  of  the  North  should 
have  some  respect  for  the  laws  of  consistency. 

What  if  an  organized  army  did  march  against  the  na- 
tional capital,  and  aim  its  shots  against  a  fort  upon  which 
was  flying  the  national  flag?  Though  these  acts  Avould 
have  been  treason  if  committed  against  the  State  of  Georgia, 
how  can  the  General  Government  witli  any  propriety  speak 


236  FATE   OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

the  word  Treason?  Treason!  that  word  henceforth  must 
not  be  spoken.  The  Meridian  (Miss.)  Mercunj  asks  that 
Jefferson  Davis,  "the  greatest  of  living  American  states- 
men," be  sent  back  to  the  United  States  senate,  not  to  add 
to  his  fame,  but  that  in  his  declining  years  he  may  "do 
noble  service  for  the  people  of  the  United  States."  What 
ground  of  objection  can  there  be,  since  he  never  has  been 
a  traitor?  At  a  memorial-day  celebration  in  Macon, 
Georgia,  the  following  letter  from  Jeft'erson  Davis  was  read 
and  applauded : 

"Let  not  any  of  the  survivors  impugn  their  faith  by 
oflfering  the  penitential  plea  that  they  believed  they  were 
right.  Let  posterity  learn  by  this  monument  that  you  com- 
memorated men  who  died  in  a  defensive  war.  These  men 
strove  for  the  state  sovereignty  which  their  fathers  left 
them,  and  which  it  was  their  duty,  if  possible,  to  transmit 
to  their  children  ?  Let  this  monument  teach  that  heroism 
derives  its  lustre  from  the  justice  of  the  cause  in  which  it  is 
displayed,  and  let  it  mark  the  difference  between  a  war 
waged  for  the  purpose  of  conquest,  and  one  to  repel  in- 
vasion, to  defend  a  people's  hearths  and  altars,  and  to 
maintain  their  laws  and  liberties.  Such  was  the  war  in 
which  our  heroes  fell,  and  theirs  is  the  crown  which 
sparkles  with  the  gems  of  patriotism  and  righteousness." 

That  fetter  places  the  Confederate  above  the  Union  sol- 
dier. In  the  name  of  humanity,  we  may  wish  to  protest ; 
but  how  can  we,  since  there  has  been  no  treason,  and  since 
there  have  been  no  traitors  in  the  United  States  of  America? 

Now  the  most  painful  reflection,  in  all  this  matter,  is  the 
helpless  condition  in  which  the  General  Government  has 
placed  itself.     Its  hands  are  tied,   its  feet  are  manacled. 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  237 

Other  nations  can  protect  themselves  against  treason,  and 
defend  the  political  rights  of  their  citizens ;  our  government 
cannot.  If,  anon,  some  other  arm  shall  be  raised  to  strike 
down  the  flag  from  some  other  Fort  Sumter,  it  will  have 
nothing  to  fear.  A  second  effort  may  be  successful ;  if  not, 
judging  from  the  past,  the  highest  emoluments  of  the 
nation  will  be  given  as  a  reward  for  raising  the  arm  to 
strike  down  the  flag.  Papists  may  gain  control  of  any 
state  in  the  Union,  ostracize  all  Protestant  citizens,  and 
defy  the  Qeneral  Government. 

The  Mormons  have  a  right  to  take  possession  of  any 
state  in  the  Union,  and  enact  laws  in  support  of  their 
peculiar  institutions,  and  the  General  Government  will  be 
utterly  powerless  to  prevent  it. 

There  may  be  a  governor  and  council  of  some  state  in 
the  near  or  remote  future,  who  will  have  a  larger  following 
than  Governor  Garcelon  and  his  council.  If  so,  year  after 
year  they  can  continue  to  *'  count  in  "  and  "  count  out,"  and 
the  General  Government  will  be  powerless  to  protect  the 
citizens  from  this  imposition  and  outrage.  Such  is  the 
subtle  and  damaging  doctrine  which  some  day  is  to  make 
our  Federal  compact  of  so  little  value  as  not  to  deserve  the 
drawing  of  a  single  sword  in  its  defence. 

The  author  of  this  book  was  an  ofiicer  in  the  Federal 
volunteer  army  during  the  rebellion.  He  with  naany  others 
mourns  to-day  that  so  many  of  the  noblest  of  his  genera- 
tion sacrificed  their  lives.  No  soldier  is  satisfied  with  what 
has  been  gained.  Many  of  the  surviving  comrades  have 
sworn  that  though  state  after  state  hereafter  should  rebel, 
they  never  again  would  draw  the  sword  or  shoulder  the 
musket.67 


238  FATE  OF  KEPUBLICS.  [part 

Passing  to  other  unpleasant  phases  of  our  national  poli- 
tics, we  call  attention,  next,  to  the  working  of  i^olitical,  or 
rather,  party  machinery.  Theoretically,  the  United  States 
is  a  democratic  representative  republic;  practically,  it  is 
under  one  of  the  worst  types  of  oligarchy  ever  known 
in  history.  A  country  ruled  by  a  few  men  who  have  per- 
sonal interest  in  its  welfare,  especially  if  they  are  good 
and  wise,  may  be  wisely  governed.  A  country  ruled  by 
rings,  political  or  whiskey,  will  soon  be  unwisely  governed. 
Men  dream  that  they  are  free,  and  they  cast  into  ballot- 
boxes  bits  of*  paper.  But  the  thoughtful  among  us  blush  at 
the  kind  of  slavery  to  which  we  are  subjected.  We  would 
not  be  misunderstood.  There  are  men  in  public  office  who 
are  patriotic  and  devout;  men  who  render  service  for 
which  they  never  have  been,  and  never  will  be,  adequately 
compensated.  We  ought  to  honor  such  men.  They  are 
conscientiously  trying  to  save  our  republican  institutions. 
But  most  of  this  class  are  helpless.  Personally  they  are 
tlie  embodiment  of  integrity.  But  they  are  caught  in  the 
whirl,  and  cannot  extricate  themselves.  They  regret  a  fact 
of  which  they  are  fully  conscious,  that  present  political 
methods  develop  trickery  and  stunt  statesmanship.  They 
confess  in  private  that  it  has  taken  so  much  time  and 
attention  to  manage  party  machinery,  that  no  energy  is  left 
for  unfolding  broad  national  and  state  policies. 

George  Washington  foresaw  this  possibility,  and  in  his 
•'  Farewell,"  with  language  quaint  and  formal,  uttered  his 
friendly  warning:  "I  have  already  intimated  to  you  the 
danger  of  parties  in  the  state,  with  particular  reference  to 
the  founding  of  them  on  geographical  discriminations.  Let 
me  now  take  a  more  comprehensive  view,  and  warn  you 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  239 

in  the  most  solemn  manner  against  tlie  baneful  effects  of 
the  spirit  of  party  generally.  This  spirit,  unfortunately,  is 
inseparable  from  our  natures,  having  its  root  in  the  strong- 
est passions  of  the  human  mind.  It  exists  under  different 
shapes  in  all  governments,  more  or  less  stifled,  controlled, 
or  repressed ;  but  in  those  of  the  popular  form  it  is  seen  in 

its  gi'eatest  rankness,  and  is  truly  their  worst  enemy 

There  is  an  opinion  that  parties,  in  free  countries,  are  useful 
checks  upon  the  administration  of  government,  and  serve  to 
keep  alive  the  spirit  of  liberty.  This,  within  certain  limits, 
is  probably  true;  and  in  governments  of  a  monarchical 
cast,  patriotism  may  look  with  indulgence,  if  not  with 
favor,  upon  the  spirit  of  party.  But  in  those  of  the  popular 
character,  in  governments  jjjurely  elective,  it  is  a  spirit  not 
to  be  encouraged.  From  their  actual  tendency,  it  is  certain 
there  will  always  be  enough  of  that  spirit  for  every  salutary 
purpose.  And  there  being  constant  danger  of  excess,  the 
effort  ought  to  be,  by  force  of  public  opinion,  to  mitigate 
and  assuage  it.  A  fire  not  to  be  quenched,  it  demands  a 
uniform  vigilance  to  prevent  its  bursting  into  a  flame,  lest, 
instead  of  warming,  it  should  consume." 

At  the  bottom  of  the  most  of  the  perils  against  which  this 
"  Farewell  Address  "  warns  us,  lies  what  is  termed  our  sys- 
tem of  "party  spoils."  They  are  coming  to  be  enormous, 
and,  consequently,  tempting.  The  political  prizes  in  the 
United  States  are  already  far  greater  than  in  any  of  the^ 
extinct  republics,  and  are  greater  than  in  all  existing  repub- 
lics combined.  In  consequence,  parties  now  exist  princi- 
pally to  gain  and  hold  this  wealth  of  spoils.  Party  legisla- 
tion is  directed,  not  to  secure  the  highest  interests  of  the 
nation,  but  to  obtain  the  completest  party  triumphs.    Spoils, 


240  .     ,       FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

and  not  the  salvation  of  the  republic,  are  what  parties  look 
for.  Hence,  not  those  who  do  most  for  the  country  at 
large,  but  those  who  do  most  for  the  party,  are  the  men 
who  are  in  demand.  "The  American  people,"  some  one 
has  said,  "care  very  little  about  politics,  but  a  great  deal 
about  politicians."  It  would  be  nearer  the  truth  to  say  that 
the  American  people  care  veiy  little  about  wise  statesmen, 
but  a  great  deal  about  party  managers.  The  trickster  in 
politics,  if  successful,  is  applauded  and  crowned.  That  is, 
tenure  of  office  depends  upon  carrying  the  next  election. 
Election  managers  are,  therefore,  party  favorites.  If  they 
succeed  in  changing  the  administration  fifty  millions  of 
dollars  in  yearly  salaries,  change  hands,  and  thousands  of 
men  change  places.  Washington  turned  out  but  eight  men, 
Adams  only  four,  Jefferson  thirty-nine,  but  not  one  of  them 
for  political  reasons,  Madison  nine,  Munroe  five,  and  the 
younger  Adams  only  two,  but  Jackson  six  hundred  and 
ninety. 

With  a  democratic  President  at  the  next  election,  it  is 
estimated  that  a  hundred  thousand  men  step  into  office, 
and  a  hundred  thousand  step  out. 68  The  party  in  power 
must,  therefore,  retain  its  ascendancy;  the  party  out  of 
power  must,  therefore,  gain  ascendancy.  To  manage  party 
interests,  to  appropriate  and  distribute  spoils,  do  not  require 
statesmanship,  hence  parties  have  no  need  of  statesmen. 
They  are  ignored.  The  office  of  statesman  is  declared 
forever  vacant. 

So  much,  therefore,  depends  upon  carrying  "the  election," 
that  there  is  no  hesitation  in  resorting  to  measures  the  most 
dastardly  and  corrupt.  The  maxim  of  Daniel  O'Connell, 
that  "nothing  can  be  jDolitically  right  which  is  morally 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  241 

wrong,"  is  ignored  as  antiquated  nonsense.  That  this  con- 
dition should  destroy  the  manhood  of  many  who  remain 
long  in  political  life,  need  not  be  thought  surprising.  In 
his  Imaginary  Conversations^,  Landor  makes  one  of  his  char- 
acters, while  talking  of  the  Italian  language,  say,  "  Qover- 
nare  means  to  govern,  and  to  wash  the  dishes.''''  "This, 
indeed,"  continues  Landor,  "  is  not  so  absurd  at  bottom ;  for 
there  is  generally  as  much  dirty  work  in  the  one  as  in  the 
other."  69  Therefore,  should  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  from  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  in  order 
to  gain  Southern  favor,  move  to  pension  rebel  soldiers,  or 
should  a  member  of  the  Senate  from  the  State  of  Maine,  in 
order  to  secure  the  favor  of  the  Pacific  States,  offer  a  tirade 
against  the  inoffensive  Chinese,  no  one  ought  to  be  sur- 
prised. Such  are  the  natural  products  of  our  political 
education.  To  demand  a  higher  order  of  politicians  in  a 
republic  one  hundred  years  old,  might  be  unreasonable. 

And  for  the  same  reason  it  need  not  be  a  matter  of  sur- 
prise that,  upon  the  eves  of  an  election,  national,  state,  or 
municipal,  competing  candidates  are  seen  crowding  lately- 
arrived  foreigners  to  the  naturalizing  offices,  and  to  the 
rooms  of  the  tax-collectors ;  nor  that  they  furnish  the  needed 
funds ;  and  then,  to  gain  some  petty  office,  place  tlie  sacred 
ballot  in  the  hands  of  men  who  have  as  yet  nothing  entitling 
them  to  American  citizenship.  More  than  one  republic  has 
been  wrecked  upon  this  rock.  Such  corruption,  in  the  pro- 
foundest  sense,  is  treason.  Tliere  is  said  to  be  a  man  now 
in  Congress  "  who  bought  two  hundred  and  fifty  votes,  and 
was  carried  into  office  by  them ;  and  he  kept  a  list  of  the 
men  he  bought,  and  used  to  show  it  to  his  friends  as  a 
matter  of  pride."  This  is  despicable  beyond  estimate.  But 
16 


242  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

wlio  are  the  strict  party  men  with  conduct  clean  enough,  or 
courage  daring  enough,  to  pronounce  the  deserved  condem- 
nation? Indeed,  what  is  chiefly  astonishing,  is  that  the 
mass  of  our  citizens  look  upon  these  party  transactions  with 
either  a  stupid  or  jocose  indifference.  If  good  men  should 
protest,  or  should  argue  that  the  interests  of  native-born 
citizens  are  not  so  divergent  as  to  justify  resort  to  such 
hazardous  measures  for  carrying  an  election,  they  would  be 
laughed  at. 

This  degraded  and  degrading  party-work  has  contami- 
nated nearly  the  whole  body  politic.  Not  only  our  foreign 
population  is  bought  and  sold  like  heaps  of  rubbish,  but  the 
poor  of  our  native  citizenship  show  the  effects  of  this  polit- 
ical malaria.  Laboring-men,  who  ought  to  be  far  beyond 
the  reach  of  these  party  crimes  and  corruptions,  put  down 
among  their  yearly  assets,  receipts  from  politicians  to  whom 
they  have  sold  their  votes.  "  I  was  told  by  a  leading  poli- 
tician the  other  day,"  says  a  close  student  of  these  matters, 
"  that  when  he  put  the  question  to  a  democratic  manager, 
'How  many  of  j^our  day-laborers,  minor  mechanics,  and 
men  of  small  means,  refuse  to  be  bought? '  he  replied,  '  Not 
over  a  third.  In  a  close  election  we  can  buy  two-thirds  of 
all  the  votes  cast  by  the  unfortunate  class.' " 

Wliat  adds  to  the  political  misfortunes  of  our  countiy,  is 
the  fact  that  many  upright  citizens  have  become  despond- 
ent, and  are  withdrawing  from  the  field  of  politics.  This 
is  a  most  lamentable  type  of  secession.  Men  who  ought  to 
be  in  our  halls  of  state  and  national  legislation,  and  men 
who  ought  to  control  preliminaiy  political  meetings,  are 
tired  of  the  ingratitude  and  abuse  which  attend  civic 
services.     Daniel  Webster,  shortly  before  his  death,  said  to 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  243 

a  friend:  "If  I  were  to  live  my  life  over  again,  with  my 
present  experience,  I  would  under  no  circumstances,  and 
from  no  considerations,  allow  myself  to  enter  public  life,  "x^ 
Tlie  public  are  ungi-ateful.  The  man  who  serves  the  public 
most  faithfully  receives  no  adequate  reward.  In  my  own 
history,  those  acts  wliich  have  been  before  God  the  most 
disinterested  and  the  least  stained  by  selfish  considerations, 
have  been  precisely  those  for  which  I  have  been  most 
freely  abused.  Xo,  no!  have  nothing  to  do  with  politics. 
Sell  your  iron;  eat  the  bread  of  independence;  support 
your  family  with  the  rewards  of  honest  toil;  do  your  duty 
as  a  private  citizen  to  your  country  —  but  let  politics  alone. 
It  is  a  hard  life,  a  thankless  life." 

This  political  despair  and  indifference  have  been  under 
quite  general  condemnation.  It  was  one  of  the  singular 
regulations  of  Solon,  which  declared  a  man  dishonored  and 
disfranchised  who,  in  civil  dispute,  stood  aloof  and  took  no 
part  with  either  side.  When  important  measm'es  were 
pending  in  Athens,  servants  of  the  state  were  sent  through 
the  market-place  with  a  rope  chalked  red;  and  whoever 
received  a  stain  on  his  toga,  as  that  line  passed  along  the 
crowded  ways,  was  pronounced  an  enemy  of  the  state  and 
fined. 

President  Woolsey  tells  us  that  in  our  colonial  days  there 
were  portions  of  New  England  in  which  votes  were  sent  to 
householders ;  and  if  they  did  not  use  them  they  were  fined. 

Louis  Kossuth  says  that  idiot  is  a  word  of  Greek  extrac- 
tion, and  meant  with  the  Greeks  a  man  who  cared  nothing 
for  the  public  interest. 

It  is  told  that  when,  some  years  ago,  a  delegation  of 
Spanish  students  went  to  present  an  address  to  Victor  Hugo, 


244  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [vakt 

the  great  French  novelist  and  poet,  they  said  they  honored 
and  revered  him,  but  did  not  come  to  him  as  a  politician. 
He  exclaimed :  *'  As  a  politician  I  wish  to  be  known  more 
than  anything  else,  for  eveiy  honest  man  ought  to  be  a 
politician." 

Charles  Sumner  often  affirmed  that  the  citizen  who  neg- 
lects his  political  duties  is  a  public  enemy. 

Says  Edmund  Burke :  *'  When  bad  men  combine,  the 
good  must  associate;  else  they  will  fall,  one  by  one,  an 
unpitied  sacrifice,  in  a  contemptible  struggle." 

In  our  republic,  it  is  repeatedly  urged  that  clergymen 
and  all  upright  citizens  should  attend  the  ward  and  other 
preliminary  meetings,  and  thus  reform  the  political  life  of 
the  nation.  Dr.  Dale,  when  in  this  country,  went  so  far  as 
to  say  to  an  audience  in  New  Haven,  that  any  citizen  who 
is  able  to  vote  and  does  not  vote,  ought,  if  he  is  a  member 
of  the  church,  to  be  expelled  from  it. 

The  reply  to  all  this  is,  that  before  compelling  men  to 
engage  in  politics,  political  traducers  should  be  put  under 
arrest,  or  be  forced  to  keep  silent.  Tlie  American  atmos- 
phere is  so  loaded  with  indiscriminate  abuse,  heaped  alike 
upon  the  most  unprincipled  demagogues  and  the  most 
public-spirited  citizens,  that  sensitive  men  hesitate  to  ex- 
pose themselves.  No  worse  things  are  said  of  the  worst 
criminals  than  are  published  respecting  some  of  the  most 
patriotic  servants  of  the  nation.  If  the  secular  press  can 
be  believed,  including  the  organs  of  different  political 
parties,  there  is  not  an  upright  public  man  living.  Only 
the  dead  in  our  republic  are  praised.  It  is  this  inflamed 
and  reckless,  this  threatening  and  abusive  language  of  the 
press  and  the  political  platform,  which  gives  zest  to  the 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  245 

bar-room  and  club-room  meetings.  It  furnishes  the  politi- 
cal venom  for  the  knots  at  street-corners,  and  for  the  secret 
caucus,  and  excites  to  communistic  and  revolutionary  utter- 
ances.'O  It  was  one  of  the  wise  provisions  of  Lycurgus,  in 
Sparta,  that  no  evil  speaking  should  be  allowed.  There  is 
needed  a  public  censor  in  America,  who,  with  "  a  scourge 
of  small  cords,"  shall  drive  from  our  civic  temple  all  who, 
for  political  effect,  dare  speak  against  an  American  citizen 
words  that  are  evil  and  slanderous. 

Not  only  do  many  of  our  upright  citizens  shrink  from 
being  targets  for  all  sorts  of  abuse  the  moment  they  take 
any  prominent  part,  but  they  have  the  feeling  that  their 
efforts  in  the  political  arena  will  be  impotent.  If  one  is  to 
sacrifice  his  reputation,  there  ought  to  be  some  compen- 
sation for  it.  If  an  upright  candidate,  who  is  pledged 
against  moral  evils,  say  the  rum  traffic,  is  nominated,  then 
the  party  managers  of  corrupt  or  selfish  aims  will  bolt  at 
pleasure,  and  aid  in  the  election  of  some  political  opponent 
who  advocates  the  rum  traffic.  That  has  been  repeatedly 
done  in  one  of  the  leading  states  of  the  republic.  And  what 
is  still  worse,  if  corrupt  political  leaders  need  votes  to  carry 
out  their  schemes  in  opposition  to  any  moral  reform,  they 
have  all  the  advantage.  They  can  make  votes  or  buy 
them,  while  the  moral  and  upright  citizen  cannot.  In  a 
word,  it  is  the  abusive  language  employed  by  professional 
politicians,  the  wrangling  in  all  political  bodies,  the  dis- 
honest measures  resorted  to  by  unprincipled  and  hungry 
office-seekers,  which  are  causing  many  men  to  despair  of 
the  future  triumph  of  our  free  institutions,  and  are  leading 
many  of  our  best  citizens  to  quietly  w^ithdraw  from  political 


246  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

contests  and  antagonisms,  and  leave  the  country  to  its 
threatened  fate." 

We  may  be  still  more  explicit.  The  republican  party 
has  been  abusive  and  coiTupt,  and  ought  to  be  punished, 
perhaps  overthrown.  The  State  of  Pennsylvania,  year 
after  year,  has  been  carried  for  the  republican  party  by 
the  fraudulent  returns  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  Some 
of  the  eastern  and  western  states  have  records  equally 
disgraceful. 

But  let  it  ever  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  will  not  mend 
matters  to  have  the  republican  party  punished  and  over- 
thrown by  the  democracy.  The  monstrous  legislation  since 
Congress  has  been  under  the  control  of  the  democrats,  can 
hardly  be  matched  by  that  of  any  extinct  republic,  even  in 
its  most  degenerate  days.  The  sanctimonious  professions 
of  the  democracy  are  remarkable,  indeed  can  hardly  be 
equalled. "^'^ 

Democratic  leaders  plead  most  zealously  and  magnani- 
mously for  "  the  rights  of  the  people  to  elective  franchise," 
and  then,  by  violence  and  bloodshed,  disfranchise  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  our  legal  voters.  They  plead  for  purity  in 
all  election  matters,  and  then  attempt,  by  the  scandalous 
"counting-out"  process,  to  defraud  a  New  England  state 
of  her  chosen  representatives. 

There  is  no  question  but  it  was  through  fraud  that  Gov- 
ernor Hayes  was  placed  in  the  Presidential  chair.  There 
is  no  denying  the  fact  that  the  democratic  party  has  abun- 
dant gi'ound  for  complaint  that  the  actual  vote  cast  in  the 
late  Presidential  election,  though  clearly  in  their  favor,  was 
overruled  by  a  partisan  republican  commission.  But  on 
the  other  hand,  there  can  be  no  question  that  it  would  have 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  247 

been  an  infinitely  greater  fraud,  because  coupled  with  tyr- 
anny, had  Governor  Tilden  assumed  control  of  the  govern- 
ment. In  that  case,  the  republican  party  would  have  had 
equally  abundant  ground  for  complaint,  that  her  overwhelm- 
ing majorities  were  denied  the  rights  of  franchise  by  an  armed 
and  murderous  democracy.  In  view  of  what  has  passed, 
republican  leaders  now  appear  in  readiness  to  resort  to  any 
means,  however  questionable,  which  shall  secure  a  repub- 
lican President.  Democratic  leaders  now  swear  that  vio- 
lence and  revolution  shall  be  resorted  to  before  they  will 
again  be  cheated  of  the  Presidency.  Both  jiarties  are  de- 
termined—  equally  so.  Hence  many  thoughtful  people 
have  the  feeling  that  a  President  henceforth  cannot  be 
elected  in  the  United  States  except  by  a  combination  of 
violence  or  fraud.  There  is  a  well-nigh  universal  dread  of 
some  outbreak  at  the  next  Presidential  election.  At  a  pub- 
lic reception  of  a  governor  of  Massachusetts,  President 
Seelye  quotes  a  military  officer  of  high  position  as  express- 
ing the  opinion,  that  in  the  United  States  we  have  had  our 
last  President  elected  by  the  people. 

Alexander  Hamilton  in  1787  wrote  to  a  friend :  "  You  and 
I  may  not  live  to  see  the  day,  but  most  assuredly  it  will 
come,  when  every  vital  interest  of  the  state  will  be  merged 
in  the  all-absorbing  question,  '  Who  shall  be  our  next 
President? '"73 

Chancellor  Kent  made  a  prediction,  fifty  years  ago,  that 
the  greatest  test  to  the  strength  of  our  form  of  government 
would  be  connected  with  a  Presidential  election.  Will  it 
be  the  next? 

The  famous  Florentine,  Machiavelli,  says  of  the  Roman 
republic,  that  its  continuance  through  so  many  years  was 


^ 


248  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

purely  in  virtue  of  this  item  in  her  constitution :  that  when 
aftairs  were  approaching  wreck,  a  dictator  could  be  elected, 
"  armed  with  autocratic  power  to  strike  down  any  danger- 
ous person  or  combination  of  persons  promptly  and  merci- 
lessly." The  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  for  the  pu- 
rification of  her  social  and  political  system,  has  at  present 
no  such  provision.  To  ask  for  such  an  amendment  would 
now  seem  treasonable,  but  some  day  may  be  a  necessity. 
For  when  the  mass  of  our  native-boni  and  order-abiding 
citizens  feel  that  their  liberties  are  bartered  away;  that 
intrigue  and  conspiracy  have  taken  the  place  of  honest 
counsel ;  that  government  has  passed  from  patriots  to  dem- 
agogues, and  is  little  else  than  "  a  chaos  with  ballot-boxes," 
then  there  need  be  no  surprise  should  the  demand,  more 
than  once  heard  in  the  history  of  republics,  be  urgently 
repeated,  for  some  one  to  seize  the  reins  of  government 
until  there  is  restored  what  are  lost  —  law  and  order.  But 
upon  that  day  will  end  the  glory  and  the  grandeur  of  the 
American  republic. 


Amid  all  this  darkness,  the  reader  asks.  Is  there  no  ray 
of  light?  Certainly  there  is  light,  and  there  are  within 
reach  the  grandest  possibilities  for  the  future.  Except  for 
the  evils  recounted,  ours  is  the  best  country  and  govern- 
ment on  the  globe.  The  material  resources  of  the  United 
States  are  well-nigh  marvellous,  while  those  of  many  of 
the  old  countries  are  felt  to  be  limited.  '  We  have  every 
facility  for  outstripping  all  other  nations.  Our  civil  free- 
dom, our  home  comforts,  our  educational  advantages,  our 
opportunities  for  professional  distinction  and  for  political  pre- 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  249 

ferment,  are  beyond  estimate ;  they  are  immense,  immeas- 
m'able.  But  opportunities  for  national  aggrandizement, 
however  great,  and  other  possibihties  within  our  scope, 
however  grand,  unless  rightly  used,  are  not  of  the  slightest 
account.  To  make  available  these  opportunities  and  possi- 
bilities, there  is  needed  tlie  introduction  of  something  into 
our  social  and  political  affairs  not  yet  generally  insisted 
upon.  It  is  something  which  can  quiet  the  conflicts  be- 
tween capital  and  labor,  which  can  make  capital  more 
benevolent  and  labor  more  law-abiding,  and  in  hard  times 
more  patient.  It  is  something  which  can  educate  and  de- 
velop the  child  so  that  he  will  become  a  national  defender 
rather  than  a  national  destroyer;  something  which  can 
harmonize  the  naturally  conflicting  interests  between  North 
and  South,  East  and  West;  something  which  can  make 
each  party  and  each  territorial  section  a  means  of  security 
to  the  common  republic,  instead  of  being  a  threatening 
factor  in  our  national  existence. 

What  is  that  something?  Has  the  political  press  yet 
spoken  of  it?  Has  it  been  heard  in  any  of  the  political 
speeches  of  either  party?  Will  it  be  inserted  into  the  plat- 
forms of  either  of  the  political  parties  during  the  autumn 
campaigns?  Will  it  be  made  an  issue  before  any  state  or 
national  legislature?  This  something,  which  will  heal  all 
our  social  and  political  maladies,  is  not  the  redistribution  of 
property,  nor  better  wages  for  t|je  laborer,  nor  greenbacks 
for  currency,  nor  changes  in  tariffs  and  taxation.  Not  one, 
not  all  these  combined,  can  save  the  republic.  Nor  will 
the  ballot  given  to  women  be  the  salvation  of  this  country. 
In  one  of  the  leading  towns  of  Massachusetts,  within  ten 
miles  of  Boston,  in  a  late  election  of  school  committee,  the 


250  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS.  [part 

women,  under  the  leadership  of  the  wife  of  a  United  States 
officer,  to  secure  one  lady  member  on  the  committee,  traded 
off  their  entire  vote  to  the  Irish  Roman  Catholics  of  the 
town. 

Nor  does  our  safety  consist  in  the  triumph  of  the  republi- 
can, nor  in  the  defeat  of  the  democratic  party.  It  is  not 
Rutherford  B.  Hayes  retained  in  the  Presidential  chair,  nor 
General  Grant  restored  to  it,  nor  Ex-Governor  Tilden  out 
of  it,  nor  any  named  or  unnamed  republican  candidate 
elected  to  it,  that  can  save  the  republic.  The  only  thing 
that  can  save  the  United  States  from  the  fatality  of  historic 
republics  is  Biblical  Christianity  among  the  masses  of  the 
people.  Let  every  man  love  God  with  all  his  heart,  and 
his  neighbor  as  himself,  and  then  our  national  woes  will  end, 
and  our  republic  will  be  as  enduring  as  the  granite  founda- 
tions of  our  continent.  But  without  Bible  knowledge  and 
practice  among  the  people  —  the  people  who  cast  the  ballot, 
and  the  people  who  make  and  execute  the  laws  —  our 
country  soon  will  not  be  fit  to  live  in,  nor  our  boasted  lib- 
erties worth  preserving.  Except  for  a  stream  of  healthy 
blood  which  has  been  sent  into  the  national  arteries  by 
devout  Christian  workers,  by  men  in  the  pulpit,  by  men  in 
business  and  professional  circles,  by  the  humblest  Sunday- 
school  worker  who  meets  his  class  on  the  Lord's  day  and 
implants  in  the  mind  of  some  boy  religious  obligations  — 
yes,  but  for  this  our  doom  had  already  been  sealed. 

When  the  great  intelligent  head  and  the  great  patriotic 
heart  of  native-born  Americans  shall  honor  and  cleave  to 
Bible  fliith  and  practice,  then  nothing  can  harm  us;  all 
the  manifest  and  occult  forces  of  the  universe  will  conspire 
to  help.     We  could  invite  the  suft'ering  and  overcrowded  of 


IV.]  EXISTING  PERILS.  251 

every  nationality  on  earth  to  our  shores,  and  still  be  secure. 
We  could  almost  disband  our  army  and  retire  our  navy, 
and  still  be  secure.  We  could  extend  our  territories,  tak- 
ing in  the  Canadas,  Cuba,  Mexico,  and  Central  America. 
We  could  do  and  bear  much  more  than  all  this  even,  and 
still  be  secure.  Lost  confidence  would  be  restored  be- 
tween man  and  man.  Capital  would  become  generous  and 
the  laborer  would  become  faithful.  Foreign  and  native 
elements  would  be  Christianized,  and  harmonized.  The 
tramp,  the  socialist,  and  the  communist  would  disappear, 
and  every  man  would  be  a  royal  son  of  God.  Tlie  New 
Englander,  the  Westerner,  and  the  Southerner  would  clasp 
hands,  in  a  fraternity  which  has  in  ^it  no  misgiving  nor 
deceit.  Loyalty  would  be  supreme,  —  supreme  in  the 
North,  supreme  in  the  West,  and  supreme  in  the  South; 
and  we  should  be  safe  —  safe  against  invasions,  safe  against 
insurrections,  safe  against  usurpations ;  nay,  with  such  pro- 
tections and  inspirations,  our  security  and  prosperity  would 
lift  this  nation  into  royal  heights  and  into  a  superb  atmos- 
phere, so  that  people  far  and  near  would  say,  "  Behold  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  established  on  the  earth." 

But  the  mass  of  our  people  will  not  honor  Bible  law  and 
practice.  Men  will  remain  unrighteous.  The  invisible 
forces  of  the  universe,  sometimes  called  God,  which  coun- 
tenance nothing  but  righteousness,  will  demand  a  day  of 
reckoning.  The  blow  will  fall.  Nothing  human  is  found 
to  be  permanent.  When  the  timbers  of  the  republic  are 
crashing,  good  men  will  look  up.  The  stars  overhead  will 
be  calm  and  beautiful. 


Notes 


Notes. 


I.  (Page  6.) 

Says  Jahn,  in  his  *'  Biblical  Archaeology  " : 

"  From  the  circumstance  that  the  .people  possessed  so  much  influ- 
ence as  to  render  it  necessary  to  submit  laws  to  them  for  their  ratifica- 
tion, and  that  they  even  took  it  upon  themselves  sometimes  to  propose 
laws,  or  to  resist  those  which  were  enacted ;  from  the  circumstance, 
also,  that  the  legislatux-e  of  the  nation  had  not  the  power  'of  laying 
taxes,  and  that  the  civil  code  was  regulated  and  enforced  by  God 
himself,  independently  of  the  legislature,  Lowman  and  John  David 
Michaelis  are  in  favor  of  considering  the  Hebrew  government  a 
democracy.  In  support  of  their  opinion,  such  passages  are  examined 
as  the  following :  Exod.  xix.  7,  8 ;  xxiv.  3-8.  Comp.  Deut.  xxix.  9-14 ; 
Josh.  ix.  18,  19 ;  xxiii.  1  et  seq. ;  xxiv.  2  et  seq.  ;  1  Sam.  x.  24 ;  xi.  14, 
15;  Num.  xxvii.  1-8;  xxxvi.  1-9.  The  truth  seems  to  lie  between 
these  two  opinions.  The  Hebrew  government,  putting  out  of  view  its 
theocratical  features,  was  of  a  mixed  form,  in  some  respects  approach- 
ing to  a  democracy,  in  others  assuming  more  of  an  aristocratical  char- 
acter." 

II.  (Page  6.) 

In  support  of  the  foregoing  statements,  compare,  Judges  iv.  4; 
Deut.  i.  12-18,  xxii.  23 ;  Judges  vi.  15 ;  Deut.  xxiv.  13 ;  Lev.  xix.  9, 
14,  23. 

III.  (Page  7.) 

"  Moses  enacted  a  law  to  the  effect  (Exod.  xxii.  25 ;  Lev.  xxv.  35- 
38)  that  interest  should  not  be  taken  from  a  poor  person,  neither  for 
horroioed  money,  nor  for  articles  of  consumption  —  for  instance,  grain 
—which  was  boiTowed  with  the  expectation  of  being  returned.    A 

265 


256  NOTES. 

climciffi:3Pai»«€^iff  "determining  who  was  to  be  considered  a  poor  person 
in  a  ease  of  tliis  kind ;  and  the  law  was  accordingly  altered  in  Deut. 
xxiii.  20,  21,  and  extended  in  its  operation  to  all  the  Hebrews, 
whether  they  had  more  or  less  property ;  so  that  interest  could  be  law- 
fully taken  only  of  foreigners. 

"  The  Hebrews  were,  therefore,  exhorted  to  lend  money,  &c.,  as  a 
deed  of  mercy  and  brotherly  kindness.  (Deut.  xv.  7-11;  xxiv.  13.) 
And  hence  it  happens  that  we  find  encomiums  everywhere  lavished 
upon  those  who  were  willing  to  lend  without  insisting  upon  intei'cst 
for  the  use  of  the  thing  lent.  (Ps.  xv.  15;  xxxvii.  21,  26;  cxii.  6. 
Prov.  xix.  17.    Ezek.  xviii.  8.)"  —  Jahn's  Archeology. 

IV.     (Page  7.) 

In  the  second  year  after  the  Exodus  there  was  an  enrolment  of  all 
males  between  twenty  and  fifty  years  of  age,  who  were  able  to  Kear 
arms.  Another  enrolment  was  made  in  the  fortieth  year  after  the 
Exodus. 

The  design  of  a  subsequent  em-olment  under  David  appears  to  have 
been  to  reduce  the  whole  of  the  people  to  militaiy  servitude. 

V.     (Page  14.) 

Milton's  rcmax'kable  description  of  Athens  is  found  in  "Paradise 
Regained  " : 

"  Look  once  more,  ere  Ave  leave  this  specular  mount, 
Westward ;  much  nearer  by  southwest  behold, 
Where,  on  the  ^gean  shore,  a  city  stands. 
Built  nobly;  pure  the  air,  and  light  the  soil; 
Athens,  the  eye  of  Greece,  mother  of  arts 
And  eloquence,  native  to  famous  wits, 
Or  hospitable,  in  her  sweet  recess. 
City  or  suburban,  studious  walks  and  shades. 
See  there  the  olive  grove  of  Academe, 
•    Plato's  retirement,  where  the  Attic  bird 

Trills  her  thick- warbled  notes  the  summer  long; 
There  flowery  hill  H3'mcttus,  with  the  sound 
Of  bees'  industrious  murmur,  oft  invites 
To  studious  musing  :  there  Ilissus  I'olls 
His  whispering  stream  :  within  the  walls  then  view 
The  schools  of  ancient  sages ;  his  who  bred 
Great  Alexander  to  subdue  the  Avorld, 
Lyceum  there,  and  painted  Stoa  next." 


NOTES. 


VI.  (Page  16.) 

The  following:  are  representative  descriptions  of  the  condition  of 
Greece  in  the  sixteenth  century : 

"  Gerbel,  in  a  work  published  in  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
turj',  in  speaking  of  Athens,  exclaims :  '  O  tragic  change  of  human 
power !  a  city  once  surrounded  by  walls,  filled  with  edifices,  powei-ful 
in  arms  and  wealth  and  men,  now  reduced  to  a  miserable  village; 
once  free  and  living  under  its  own  laws,  now  subjected  by  the  yoke  of 
slavery  to  the  most  cruel  and  brutal  masters.  Go  to  Athens,  and 
behold,  in  place  of  the  most  magnificent  works,  a  mass  of  deplorable 
ruins.'  And  Pinet,  a  French  writer,  at  the  close  of  his  description, 
exclaims :  '  And  now,  O  heavens !  there  remains  only  a  little  castle, 
and  a  miserable  village,  unprotected  from  foxes  and  wolves,  and  other 
wild  beast-?.'  Another  writer,  a  little  later,  says :  *  Gi'eece  once  was, 
Athens  once  was ;  now  there  is  neither  Athens  in  Greece,  nor  Greece 
in  Greece  itself.'  And  Ortelius,  the  geographer,  says :  '  Now  only  a 
few  miserable  huts  remain ;  the  place  at  the  present  day  is  called 
Setine.' " —  Smith's  lUstori/  of  Greece. 

Says  a  recent  visitor :  **  The  amalgamation  of  races,  and  the  loss  of 
national  incentives,  have  rendered  the  people  so  shabby  and  sluggish, 
so  careless  and  aimless,  so  degraded  and  squalid,  that  we  wonder  how 
their  ancestors  could  have  listened  to  the  recital  of  Homer's  poems,  or 
fought  with  Miltiades  and  Themistocles,  or  encouraged  Pericles,  or 
reverenced  Socrates  and  Plato,  or  have  become  enraptured  by  the 
eloquence  of  Demosthenes." 

VII.  (Page  16.) 

Plutarch,  in  his  "  Customs  of  the  Lacedaemonians,"  clearly  sets 
forth  this  thought: 

"  For  though  gi'cat  riches  and  large  possessions  were  things  they 
hated  to  death,  it  being  a  capital  crime  and  punishment  to  have  any 
gold  or  silver  in  their  houses,  or  to  amass  up  together  heaps  of  money 
(which  was  generally  made  with  them  of  iron  or  leather),  for  which 
reason  several  had  been  put  to  death,  according  to  that  law  which 
banished  covetousness  out  of  the  city,  on  the  account  of  an  answer  of 
their  oracle  to  Alcamenes  and  Theopompus,  two  of  their  Spartan 
kings,  'that  the  love  of  money  should  be  the  ruin  of  Sparta,'  3-et, 
notwithstanding  the  severe  penalty  annexed  to  the  heaping  up  much 
wealth,  and  the  example  of  those  who  had  suffered  for  it,  Lysander 
was  highly  honored  and  rewarded  for  bringing  in  a  quantity  of  gold 
17 


258  NOTES. 

und  silver  to  Lacedaemon,  after  the  victor}'  he  had  gained  over  the 
(Athenians,  and  the  taking  of  the  city  of  Athens  itself,  wherein  an 
inestimable  treasure  was  found.  So  that  what  had  been  a  capital 
Ci'ime  in  others  was  a  meritorious  act  in  him.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that 
as  long  as  the  Spartans  did  adhere  closely  to  the  obsei-vation  of  the 
laws  and  rules  of  Lycurgus,  and  kept  their  oath  religiously  to  be 
true  to  their  own  government,  they  outstripped  all  the  other  cities  of 
Greece  for  prudence  and  valor,  and  for  the  space  of  five  hundi-ed 
years  became  famous  eveiywhere  for  the  excellency  of  their  laws  and 
the  wisdom  of  their  policy.  But  when  the  honor  of  these  laws  began 
to  lessen,  and  their  citizens  grew  luxurious  and  exorbitant;  when  cov- 
etousness  and  too  much  libei-ty  had  softened  their  minds  and  almost 
destroyed  the  wholesome  constitution  of  their  state,  their  former  great- 
ness and  power  began  by  little  and  little  to  decay  and  dwindle  in  the 
estimation  of  men." 

VIII.     (Page  17.) 

Ai'istophanes  thus  describes  the  character  of  one  of  these  degenerate 
Athenian  political  leadei's : 

"  The  character  of  popular  leader  no  longer  belongs  to  a  man  of 
education,  nor  yet  to  one  good  in  liis  morals,  but  to  the  ignorant  and 
repulsive." 

" '  How  am  I  to  manage  the  people  ? '  asks  the  sausage-seller  in  the 
*  Knights.'  '  That  is  very  easy,'  replied  Demosthenes ;  *  act  as  you  do 
now.  Jumble  and  mince  together  all  state  affairs,  and  always  win 
over  the  people  to  your  side  by  coaxing  them  with  little,  corkish 
words.  But  the  other  requisites  for  a  demagogue  you  possess,  —  a  ><;; 
vulgar  tongue ;  you  are  of  mean  birth,  a  low  fellow.  You  have  all 
things  requisite  for  statesmanship.'" 

IX.  (Page  18.) 

These  generals  opposed  each  other  with  such  violent  animosity  that 
Ai'istides  is  reported  to  have  said  :  "  If  the  Athenians  were  wise,  they  >^ 
would  cast  both  of  us  into  the  barathrum." 

X.  (Page  19.) 

Thirlwald  gives  the  following  definition  of  a  Grecian  tyrant  or 
despot :  "  The  irresponsible  dominion  of  a  single  person,  not  founded 
on  hei'editary  right,  or  on  fair  election." 

The  aggressive  and  cruel  sway  of  some  of  the  despots  is  illustrated 
in  a  stoiy  told  by  Periauder : 


NOTES.  259 

"  Soon  after  his  accession,  he  is  said  to  have  sent  to  Thrasybulus, 
despot  of  Miletus,  to  ask  him  for  advice  as  to  the  best  mode  of  main- 
taining his  power.  Without  giving  an  answer  in  writing,  Thrasybulus 
led  the  messenger  through  a  corn-field,  cutting  off,  as  he  went,  the 
tallest  ears  of  corn.  He  then  dismissed  the  messenger,  telling  him  to 
inform  his  master  how  he  had  found  him  employed.  The  action  was 
rightly  interpreted  by  Periander,  who  proceeded  to  rid  himself  of  the 
powerful  nobles  of  the  state." 

XI.     (Page  21.) 

The  picture  of  one  of  these  woful  political  epochs  is  thus  vividly 
portrayed  by  the  national  historian,  Thucydides : 

"  Discord  then  reigned  throughout  the  states And  they     ^ 

changed  the  customary  meaning  of  words  applied  to  things,  according 
to  the  caprices  of  the  moment;  for  reckless  audacity  was  considered 
manly  fiilelity  to  party;  prudent  delay,  fair-seeming  cowardice;  mod- 
eration, the  screen  for  feebleness.  Headlong  fi-enzy  was  set  down  on 
the  side  of  manhood.  The  unrelenting  was  trusted ;  whoever  argued 
against  him  was^  suspected.  He  wlio  plotted,  if  successful,  was  thought 
sagacious ;  who  counterplotted,  still  abler.  He  who  forecasted  the 
means  whereby  he  should  not  need  these  resorts  was  charged  with 
ruining  the  pai-ty  and  fearing  their  opponents.  In  a  word,  he  was 
applauded  who  got  the  start  of  another  when  intending  to  do  an 
injury,  and  who  induced  one  to  do  a  wrong  that  had  no  thought  of 
doing  it  himself.  And  what  was  worse,  kin  became  more  alien  than 
party,  because  party  was  prompter  for  unscrupulous  daring.  For  such 
combinations  aim  not  for  the  benefit  of  the  established  institutions,  but 
in  their  grasping  spirit  run  counter  to  the  lawful  authorities.  Their 
pledges  to  one  another  were  sanctioned,  not  by  divine  law,  but  by  their 
having  together  violated  law.  The  cause  of  this  state  of  things  was 
the  lust  of  power,  for  purposes  of  rapacity  and  ambition,  and  the  hot 
temper  of  those  who  were  engaged  in  the  conflict.  Thus  neither  party 
held  to  sacred  honor;  but  those  were  more  highly  spoken  of  who, 
under  cover  of  plausible  pretences,  succeeded  in  effecting  some  pur- 
pose of  hatred.  The  citizens  who  stood  between  the  extremes,  and 
belonged  to  neither,  both  pai-ties  endeavored  to  destroy.  So  every 
species  of  wickedness  became  established  by  these  feuds  over  the  Hel- 
lenic world.  Simplicity  of  character,  wherein  nobleness  of  nature 
most  largely  shares,  being  scoffed  at,  disappeared ;  and  mutual  oppo- 
sition of  feeling,  with  universal  disti'ust,  prevailed.  For  there  was 
neither  binding  word  nor  fearful  oath  to  compose  the  strife.  And  for 
the  most  part,  those  who  were  meaner  in  understanding  were  the  more 


260  NOTES. 

successful ;  for,  fearinof  their  own  deficiency  and  the  ability  of  their 
adversaries,  apprehensive  that  they  should  be  worsted  in  argument 
and  eloquence,  and  outwitted  by  the  intellectual  adroitness  on  the 
other  side,  they  went  audaciously  on  to  deeds  of  violence ;  but  their 
opponents,  contemptuous  in  the  presumption  of  foreknowledge,  and 
not  feeling  the  need  of  securing  by  action  what  could  be  compassed  by 
genius,  the  more  easily  perished  undefended." 

XII.  (Page  27.) 

This  is  an  elegiac  fragment  of  a  poem  translated  by  Professor  Fel- 
ton,  and  written  by  the  Grecian  lawgiver  Solon,  seemingly  to  warn 
the  people  against  the  arts  of  aspiring  demagogues. 

XIII.  (Page  29.) 

"  In  the  great  African  republic,  bank-notes  had  their  origin.  *  In  a 
small  piece  of  leather,'  says  yEschines,  the  Socratic  philosopher,  '  is 
wrapped  a  substance  of  tbe  size  of  a  piece  of  four  drachms;  but  what 
this  substance  is,  no  one  knows  except  the  maker.  After  this,  it  is 
sealed  and  issued  for  circulation ;  and  he  who  possesses  the  most  of 
this  is  regarded  as  having  the  most  money,  and  as  being  the  wealthiest 
man.  But  if  any  one  among  us  had  ever  so  much,  he  would  be  no 
richer  than  if  he  possessed  a  quantity  of  pebbles.'  Of  course  banks 
must  have  existed  for  the  redemption  of  these  leather  promises  to  pay, 
and  the  issue  and  currency  of  such  notes  must  have  been  provided  for 
by  law."  —  Mann's  Ancient  and  Mediceval  Republics. 

XIV.  (Page  34.) 

It  was  the  custom  of  Hannibal  to  have  with  him  in  his  campaigns 
two  Greek  men  of  letters  for  the  purpose  of  recording  his  exploits. 
But  this  plan  which  Hannibal  had  fprmed  for  giving  to  posterity  the 
facts  of  his  campaigns,  as  Julius  Caesar  did  after  him,  was  frustrated ; 
the  manuscripts  were  probably  destroyed  by  the  Roman  conquerors. 
The  solitary  relic  of  Carthaginian  literature  that  the  world  possesses  is 
a  work  on  agriculture  by  Mago.  It  Avas  translated  into  Latin,  and  in 
that  form  became  the  standai-d  Latin  classic  on  agriculture. 

Jjlmilianus,  the  commanding  general  of  the  Roman  army  which 
conquered  Carthage,  was  gi-eatly  inclined  to  spare  what  remained  of 
this  stately  metropolis,  after  being  plundered  by  the  soldiers.  He 
therefore  wrote  to  the  senate,  from  which  he  received  the  following 
orders :  '*  1.  The  city  of  Carthage,  with  Byrsa  and  Megalia,  shall  be 
entirely  destroyed,  and  no  traces  of  them  left.    2.  All  the  cities  which 


NOTES.  261 

have  lent  Cai-thage  any  assistance  shall  be  dismantled.  3.  The  terri- 
tories of  those  cities  which  have  declared  for  the  Romans  shall  be 
enlarged  with  the  lands  taken  from  the  enemy.  4.  All  the  lands 
between  Hippo  and  Carthage  shall  be  divided  among  the  inhabitants 
of  Utica.  5.  All  the  Africans  of  the  Carthaginian  state,  both  men  and 
women,  shall  pay  an  annual  tribute  to  the  Romans  at  so  much  per 
head.  6.  The  whole  country  formerl}'  subject  to  the  Carthaginian 
state  shall  be  reduced  into  a  Roman  province,  and  be  governed  by  a 
praetor,  in  the  same  manner  as  Sicily.  Lastly,  Rome  shall  send  com- 
missioners into  Africa,  there  to  settle  jointly  with  the  proconsul  the 
state  of  the  new  province." 

XV.     (Page  37.) 

Montesquieu  thought  that  the  greatness  of  Rome  was  due  to  her 
first  gx-eat  leaders,  Romulus,  Numa,  and  others.  More  modern  theo- 
rists believed  that  it  was  rather  owing  to  her  unsurpassed  and  com- 
manding situation,  and  to  the  abundant  and  admirable  building 
materials  about  her.  We  may  more  safely  attribute  Roman  greatness 
to  a  union  of  the  military  spirit,  the  greatness  of  her  early  leaders, 
and  to  her  grand  geographical  and  topographical  situation. 

XVI.     (Page  38.) 

Of  the  habits  of  the  people  of  Rome  during  the  early  period  of  the 
republic,  Schmitz  says : 

"  Rustic  pursuits  produced  and  nourished  the  highest  virtues  that 
characterized  the  best  of  the  Romans ;  and  the  greatest  praise  that  a 
censor  could  bestow  upon  a  man  was,  that  he  was  a  good  husbandman 
and  father.  Their  mode  of  living  still  continued  to  be  extremely  sim- 
ple :  their  ordinary  food  consisted  of  a  kind  of  porridge  made  of  flour, 
and  fruit  of  the  fields.  Bread  was  made  at  home  by  the  women.  In 
the  time  of  the  Samnite  wars,  wine  was  thought  so  precious  that  even 
the  libations  to  the  gods  consisted  of  mere  drops  of  wine ;  and  one 
Mecenius  was  not  censured  for  having  killed  his  wife  because  she  had 
drunk  wine  without  his  knowing  it." 

XVIT.     (Page  40.) 

The  triumphal  processions  in  honor  of  a  Roman  victor)'  were  among 
the  grandest  displays  of  the  republic.  The  historian  thus  describes 
the  triumph  of  Paulus  after  the  victory  of  Pydna : 

**  First  passed  the  sports  of  Greece,  statues  and  pictures,  in  two 
hundred  and  fifty  wagons ;  then  the  arms  and  accoutrements  of  the 


262  NOTES. 

Macedonian  soldiers ;  then  three  thousand  men,  each  carrying  a  vase 
of  silver  coin ;  then  victims  for  sacrifice,  with  youths  and  maidens  with 
gai'lands;  then  men  bearing  vases  of  gold  and  precious  stones;  then 
the  royal  chariot  of  the  conquered  king,  laden  with  armor  and 
trophies ;  then  his  wife  and  children  and  the  fallen  monarch  on  foot ; 
then  the  triumphal  car  of  the  victorious  general,  preceded  by  men 
bearing  four  hundred  crowns  of  gold,  the  gift  of  Grecian  cities,  and 
followed  by  his  two  sons  on  horseback,  and  the  whole  army  in  order." 

XVIII.    (Page  40.) 

"At  their  repasts,"  says  Schmitz,  "the  most  exquisite  dishes  were 
brought  together  from  all  parts  of  the  world ;  and  in  order  not  to  be 
restrained  in  their  extravagant  enjoyment  of  them,  they  had  recourse 
to  the  disgusting  practice  of  taking  emetics  both  before  and  after  theii* 
debauches." 

XIX.  (Page  41.) 

Says  a  careful  student  of  Roman  affairs : 

"  Italian  agriculture,  which  had  received  its  death-blow  during  the 
latter  period  of  the  republic,  was  completely  crushed  by  the  establish- 
ment of  numei-ous  villas,  which,  with  their  parks  and  pleasure-grounds, 
baths,  ponds,  and  groves,  often  equalled  large  towns  in  extent ;  and 
most  of  the  remaining  districts  were  changed  into  pasture  land.  Man- 
ufactures and  industry  could  not  thrive  at  Eome  from  the  want  of  an 
active  and  industrious  middle  class ;  the  Romans  being  either  enor- 
mously wealthy,  or  living  in  abject  poverty.  In  the  reign  of  tyrants,  the 
populace  were  never  under  the  necessity  of  working,  or  gaining  their 
living  by  honest  labor;  for  the  means  of  subsistence,  as  oil,  bread, 
wine,  and  meat,  were  lavishlj"^  distributed  among  them  by  the  rulers, 
either  from  the  public  treasury  or  from  their  pi'ivate  purse.  A  coun- 
try which  had  once  become  a  Roman  province  gradually  fell  into 
decay;  for  a  number  of  wealthy  strangers  or  Roman  speculators 
usually  settled  in  it,  and  purchased  the  lands  at  reduced  prices. 
Hence  the  number  of  land-owners  in  Sicily  was  fearfully  small  in  the 
time  of  Cicero ;  and  those  few,  who  had  accumulated  all  the  land,  had 
it  cultivated  by  hordes  of  slaves,  while  the  free  inhabitants  were 
reduced  to  abject  poverty." 

XX.  (Page  42.) 

A  volume  of  testimonies  could  be  compiled,  setting  forth  the 
extreme  moral  corruption  of  the  closing  days  of  the  republic  and  the 
beginning  of  the  empire.    Note  the  following : 


NOTES.  263 

"The  age  of  our  fathers,"  says  Horace,  "worse  than  that  of  our     K 
grandsires,  has  produced  us,  who  are  yet  baser,  and  who  are  doomed 
to  give  birth  to  a  still  more  degraded  offspring." 

"Posterity,"  says  Juvenal,  "will  add  nothing  to  our  immorality: 
our  descendants  can  but  do  and  desire  the  same  crimes  as  ourselves." 

"More  crime,"  says  Seneca,  "is  committed  than  can  be  remedied     A" 
by  restraint ;  wickedness  has  prevailed  so  completely  in  the  hreast  of 
all,  that  innocence  is  not  rare,  but  non-existent." 

XXI.     (Page  44.) 

Henry  Mann  correctly  remarks  that  "  the  beginning  of  the  decay 
of  the  Roman  commonwealth  may  be  dated  from  the  time  when  the 
soldier  began  to  be  distinct  from  the  citizen.  The  growth  of  this  dis- 
tinction was  gradual.  As  the  area  of  military  operations  extended, 
campaigns  were  more  protracted,  and  the  influence  of  the  central 
government  over  the  forces  in  the  field  became  weaker  and  weaker. 
Even  if  a  commander  started  out  with  no  ambitious  designs  against 
the  liberties  of  his  country,  he  could  not  but  learn,  during  years  of 
supreme  authority  over  legions  and  ovei-  provinces,  to  love  the  exer- 
cise of  absolute  power.  His  men  too,  cut  off  from  home  communica- 
tions and  sympathies,  were  ready  to  follow  a  leader  who  they  knew 
would  reward  them.  They  forgot  that  they  were  in  the  service  of  the 
commonwealth,  and  listened  only  to  the  chief  whom  they  had  been 
accustomed  to  obey,  and  on  whose  gratitude  they  felt  that  they  could 
rely." 

XXII.     (Page  45.) 

"Previous  to  the  time  of  Clodius,  citizens  receiving  corn  at  the 
public  charge  were  required  to  pay  an  almost  nominal  sum  for  it,  but 
that  demagogue  introduced  a  law  providing  that  corn  should  be  dis- 
tributed gratis.  Many  fi'auds  and  irregularities  resulted,  which  Julius 
Caesar  rectified  by  requiring  the  landlords  of  every  square,  or  island, 
as  the  Romans  termed  separate  blocks  of  buildings,  to  furnish  a  cor- 
rect list  of  their  tenants.  The  number  fed  was  thus  reduced  from 
three  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  to  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand, 
and  a  great  saving  was  effected  to  the  public  treasury." 

XXm.    (Page  45.) 

"  The  gross  brutality  and  total  absence  of  every  feeling  of  humanity 
in  the  population  of  Rome  shows  itself  most  strikingly  in  their  passion- 
ate fondness  for  the  bloody  scenes  of  the  circus :  the  sight  of  murder, 
and  of  men  in  the  agonies  of  death,  Avas  to  them  a  source  of  pleasure 


2o4  NOTES. 

and  delight ;  and  their  cries  for  bread  were  often  mixed  with  cries  for 
murderous  games.  Even  Titus  was  obliged  to  yield  to  the  clamor  of 
the  people,  and  to  give  gladiatorial  games  for  several  days,  in  which 
thousands  of  unfortunate  gladiators  were  compelled  to  destroy  one 
another.  In  like  manner,  Trajan,  after  his  Dacian  victory,  had  to 
amuse  the  populace  with  games  which  lasted  a  hundred  and  three 
days,  arud  which,  in  the  number  of  gladiators  and  wild  beasts  that 
appeared  in  the  circus,  surpassed  every  similar  exhibition  seen  at 
Roilie.  All  imaginable  instruments  and  artifices  of  sensuality,  volup- 
tuousness, and  debauchery  were  carried  from  the  East  to  Italy;  and 
the  city  of  Rome,  which  became  a  place  of  resort  for  persons  of  all 
nations,  was  at  the  same  time  a  pool  of  coiTuption  for  all."  —  Scumitz's 
History  of  Rome. 

XXIV.  (Page  48.) 

"  The  fearful  anarchy  into  which  Rome  was  plunged  after  the  time 
of  Sulla  showed  itself  more  particularly  in  the  assemblies  of  the  people ; 
for  there  the  place  of  the  free-born  Roman  citizen  was  occupied  by 
an  idle  and  hungry  populace,  which  had  no  desire  for  anything  higher 
than  bread  and  amusements,  and  was  ever  ready  to  attach  itself  to  those 
who  had  the  richest  rewards  to  offer.  At  the  elections  of  magistrates, 
bribery  was  carried  on  in  the  most  open  and  unscrupulous  manner ; 
and  the  dregs  of  the  city,  which  fed  upon  In-ibery,  decided  upon  the 
most  important  affairs  of  the  state,  such  as  the  election  of  magistrates, 
the  enactment  of  laws,  and  upon  peace  and  war.  The  comitia  oftea 
were  of  the  most  riotous  and  tumultuous  kind,  for  the  hostile  factions 
not  unfrcquently  attacked  each  other  with  arms ;  and  the  forum  was 
the  scene  of  civil  blooilshcd,  bands  of  armed  slaves  and  gladiators 
occupying  it,  and  deciding  by  the  dagger  or  the  sword  what  ought  to 
have  been  settled  by  free  and  rational  discussion.  The  tribunes,  who 
had  been  the  representatives  of  the  people  and  the  guardians  of  their 
rights  ever  since  the  time  of  the  Gracchi,  either  themselves  came  for- 
ward as  the  leaders  of  factions,  or  sold  themselves  as  supporters  to 
those  who  chose  to  buy  th.em  by  bribes." — Ibid. 

XXV.  (Page  53.) 

Plutarch,  speaking  of  Caesar's  robbery  of  the  treasuiy  of  Rome, 
says : 

"As  MetuUus,  the  tribune,  opposed  his  taking  money  out  of  the 
public  treasury,  and  alleged  some  laws  against  it,  Caesar  said,  *  Arms 
and  laws  do  not  flourish  together.  If  you  are  not  pleased  at  what  I 
am  about,  you  have  nothing  to  do  but  withdraw :  indeed,  war  will  not 


NOTES.  265 

bear  much  liberty  of  speech.  When  I  say  this  I  am  departing  from 
my  own  right :  for  you,  and  all  whom  I  have  found  exciting  a  spirit 
of  faction  against  me,  are  at  my  disposal.'  Saying  this,  he  approached 
the  doors  of  the  treasury,  and  as  the  keys  were  not  produced,  he  sent 
for  workmen  to  break  them  open.  Metullus  opposed  him  again,  and 
some  praised  his  firmness ;  but  Caesar,  raising  his  voice,  threatened  to 
put  him  to  death  if  he  gave  any  further  trouble.  *  And,  young  man,' 
said  he,  *  you  are  not  ignorant  that  this  is  harder  for  me  to  say  than  to 
do.'  Metullus,  terrified  with  his  menace,  retired,  and  afterwards 
Caesar  was  easily  and  readily  supplied  with  everything  necessai-y  for 
the  war." 

XXYI.     (Page  53.) 

De  Quincy  thus  comments  upon  the  relative  rank  of  Caesar : 
"  Was  Caesar,  upon  the  whole,  the  greatest  of  men  ?  Dr.  Beattie 
once  observed,  that,  if  that  question  were  left  to  be  collected  from  the 
suffrages  already  expressed  in  books  and  scattered  throughout  the 
literature  of  all  nations,  the  scale  would  be  found  to  have  turned 
prodigiously  in  Caesar's  favor,  as  against  any  single  competitor;  and 
there  is  no  doubt  whatever,  that,  even  amongst  his  own  countrymen 
and  his  own  contemporaries,  the  same  verdict  would  have  been  re- 
turned, had  it  been  collected  upon  the  famous  principle  of  Thcmisto- 
cles,  that  he  should  be  reputed  the  first  whom  the  greatest  number 
of  rival  voices  had  pronounced  the  second." 

XXVII.     (Page  55.) 

In  Ode  XTV.,  Book  I.,  Horace  tried  to  persuade  the  Romans  not  to 
allow  Augustus  to  abandon  the  government  of  the  state,  lest  it  should 
again  be  subjected  to  mob  rule. 

In  Odes  V.  and  XV.,  Book  IV.,  and  in  the  second  book  of  his 
epistles,  Epistle  I.,  the  poet  suggests  how  helpless  Home  would  be  if 
deprived  of  the  strong  hand  of  Augustus. 

In  Ode  XVI.  of  the  *'  Epodes,"  Horace  shows  that  the  republic  was 
wrecked  before  Augustus  came  into  power. 

There  appear  to  have  been  but  two  occasions  subsequent  to  the 
empire  of  Augustus,  when  the  people  seriously  thought  of  regaining 
their  liberties.  Tacitus,  speaking  of  the  condition  of  affairs  after 
Augustus  became  emperor,  says : 

"The  character  of  the  government  is  totally  changed;  no  traces 
were  to  be  found  of  the  spirit  of  ancient  institutions.  The  system  by 
which  eveiy  citizen  shared  in  the  government  being  thrown  aside,  all 
men  regarded  the  orders  of  the  prince  as  the  only  rule  of  conduct  and 


266  NOTES. 

obedience ;  nor  felt  they  any  anxiety  for  the  present,  while  Augustus, 
yet  in  the  vigor  of  life,  maintained  the  credit  of  himself  and  house, 
and  the  peace  of  the  state.  But  when  old  age  had  crept  over  him,  and 
he  was  sinking  under  bodily  infirmities;  when  his  end  was  at  hand, 
and  thence  a  new  source  of  hopes  and  views  was  presented,  —  some  few 
there  were  who  began  to  talk  idly  about  the  blessings  of  liberty ;  many 
dreaded  a  civil  war,  others  longed  for  one ;  while  far  the  greatest  part 
were  occupied  in  circulating  various  surmises  reflecting  upon  those 
who  seemed  likely  to  be  their  masters." 

The  other  occasion  when  a  desire  for  independence  showed  itself 
was  after  the  murder  of  Caligula.  Gibbon,  gathering  the  facts  from 
Joscphus,  Dion,  and  Suetonius,  says  : 

"There  appears,  injjeed,  one  memorable  occasion  in  which  the 
senate,  after  seventy  years  of  patience,  made  an  inetfectual  attempt  to 
reassume  its  long-forgotten  rights.  When  the  throne  was  vacant  by 
the  murder  of  Caligula,  the  consuls  convoked  that  assembly  in  the 
capital,  condemned  the  memory  of  the  Caesars,  gave  the  watchword 
*  liberty '  to  the  few  cohorts  who  faintly  adhered  to  their  standard,  and 
during  eight  and  forty  hours  acted  as  the  independent  chiefs  of  a  free 
commonwealth.  But  while  tliey  deliberated,  the  praetorian  guards 
had  resolved.  The  stupid  Claudius,  brother  of  Germanicus,  was 
already  in  their  camp,  invested  with  the  imperial  purple,  and  prepared 
/-  to  suppoxt  his  election  by  arms.  The  dream  of  liberty  was  at  an  end ; 
and  the  senate  awoke  to  all  the  horrors  of  inevitable  servitude. 
Deserted  by  the  people  and  threatened  by  a  military  force,  that  feeble 
assembly  was  compelled  to  ratify  the  choice  of  the  praetorians,  and  to 
embrace  the  benefit  of  an  amnesty,  which  Claudius  had  the  prudence 
to  otfer  and  the  generosity  to  observe." 

XXVIII.     (Page  65.) 

Giovanni  de  Medici,  a  man  of  immense  wealth,  the  banker  of  the 
pope,  is  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the  remarkable  house  of  the 
Medici.  At  his  death  in  1428,  he  left  two  sons,  Cosimo  and  Lorenzo, 
from  the  latter  of  whom  the  dukes  of  the  sixteenth  centuiy  descended. 
Cosimo  acquired  great  distinction  during  the  council  of  Florence  in 
1439,  and  his  grandson,  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  added  still  more  to 
the  fame  of  the  house.  In  1478  the  conspiracy  of  the  Pazzi  against 
the  Medici  failed,  and  in  1492  Pietro  succeeded  his  father  Lorenzo  as 
gonfaloniere.  Pietro  subsequently  was  expelled,  and  Savonarola 
established  a  kind  of  theocracy  which  ended  in  1498.  By  the  victory 
of  Alessandro  of  Medici  (August  12, 1530),  the  republic  was  completely 
overthrown,  and  (July  29,  1531)  Alessandro  was  declared  duke  of 
Florence.    He  was  killed  in  1539,  and  his  son  succeeded  as  grand-duke. 


NOTES.  267 


XXIX.     (Page  65.) 

"  In  Italy,"  says  Signer  Eicotti,  "  the  free  companies  were  for  two 
centuries  the  sole  military  force  of  the  country.  In  fact,  at  the  veiy 
moment,  as  it  were,  of  their  appearance,  the  communal  governments 
began  to  decay,  the  city  military  forces  became  extinct,  and  vast 
dominions  were  erected  on  the  ruins  caused  by  partisan  zeal.  .  .  . 
Thus  in  the  earliest  beginnings  of  the  companies  must  be  sought  the 
solution  of  that  most  important  problem  —  the  cause  of  the  decline  of 
the  Italian  communes." 

"  One  effect  of  the  employment  of  mercenary  troops  in  the  duels 
between  the  Italian  states  of  the  mediaeval  period  was  to  make  the 
wars  comparatively  bloodless.  In  this  respect,  a  battle  between  Italian 
armies  in  the  middle  ages  resembled  an  encounter  between  the  forces 
of  South  American  revolutionists  at  the  present  time.  *  Such  coward- 
ice and  disoi-der  prevailed  in  the  armies  of  those  times,'  says  Machia- 
velli,  *  that  the  turning  of  a  horse's  head  or  tail  was  sufficient  to  decide 
the  fate  of  an  expedition.'  The  same  author  relates  that  in  a  hardly- 
contested  battle  (near  Anghiari,  1439)  between  the  Florentine  forces 
under  Micheletto  Attendulo,  and  those  of  the  duke  of  Milan  under 
Niccolo  Piecinino,  —  both  of  them  famous  captains  in  their  day,  —  *  only 
one  man  died,  and  he  not  from  wounds  inflicted  by  hostile  weapons, 
or  any  honorable  means,  but,  having  fallen  from  his  horse,  was  tram- 
pled to  death.'  This  battle  lasted  two  hours.  The  aim  of  both  parties 
was  to  gain  possession  of  a  bridge,  which  was  repeatedly  taken  and 
retaken,  so  that  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  how  in  a  hand-to-hand  strug- 
gle in  such  a  narrow  place  loss  of  life  was  avoided,  unless,  as  was 
doubtless  the  fact,  the  combatants  had  no  heart  in  their  work,  and  did 
not  wish  to  kill  each  other.  It  is  narrated  that  in  another  battle 
between  the  Florentines  and  Venetians  (near  Imola,  1467),  the  two 
armies  *  came  to  a  regular  engagement,  which  continued  half  a  day, 
without  either  party  yielding.  Some  horses  were  wounded  and  pris- 
oners taken,  but  no  death  occurred.'"  —  Mann. 

XXX.    (Page  71.) 

"  The  cells  into  which  prisoners  were  thrown  after  being  arrested 
were  known  as  the  wells  and  kads.  The  wells  were  dungeons  beneath 
the  level  of  the  canal,  and  were  so  called  because  there  was  generally 
about  two  feet  of  sea-water  in  them.  The  wretched  prisoner,  if  he  did 
not  care  to  soak  his  legs  in  the  salt  water,  had  to  remain  on  the  planks 
upon  which  his  mattress  was  spread,  and  on  which  his  daily  meal  of 
bread,  soup,  and  water  was  laid.    Unless  he  ate  the  food  without 


268  NOTES. 

delay,  enormous  rats  would  devour  it  before  his  eyes.  The  leads  were 
situated  immediately  beneath  the  leaden  roof  of  the  ducal  palace. 
Casanova,  who  was  immured  in  a  Venetian  dungeon  in  1755,  thus 
describes  his  experience  :  '  The  jailer  took  a  great  key,  and  opened  a 
door  about  three  feet  and  a  half  in  height,  and  plated  Avith  iron.  In 
the  middle  of  the  door  was  an  opening  about  eight  inches  square.  On 
entering  I  saw  an  instrument  of  iron  fastened  to  the  wall.  My  guide, 
who  noticed  my  surprise,  said,  with  a  smile,  "  The  gentleman  is  not 
able,  probably,  to  divine  the  use  of  that  machine.  When  the  illus- 
trious Inquisition  oi'dain  that  a  prisoner  be  strangled,  he  is  made  to 
sit  upon  a  stool,  and  an  iron  collar  is  put  half  round  his  neck. 
Then  a  silken  cord  is  passed  around  his  neck,  the  ends  of  which  are 
attached  to  a  crank,  Avhich  is  turned  until  the  patient  has  given  up  the 
ghost ;  but  the  confessor  does  not  leave  him  until  he  is  dead."  "  What 
a  contrivance !  "  I  exclaimed ;  "  probably  it  is  you  who  have  the  honor 
to  turn  the  crank."  My  amiable  cicerone  did  not  answer,  and  we 
passed  on.  The  cells  for  prisoners  of  state  were  situated  in  the  high- 
est story  under  the  top  of  the  ducal  palace.  The  roof  is  covered 
neither  with  slate  nor  tiles,  but  Avith  sheets  of  lead  about  three  feet 
square.  The  rays  of  the  sun,  falling  directly  upon  the  leaden  roof  of 
my  dungeon,  made  it  as  hot  as  a  stove.  During  the  day  I  kept  ray- 
self  entirely  naked,  while  the  bench  upon  which  I  sat  was  wet  with  the 
sti'eams  of  sweat  that  ran  from  my  body.  Air  was  admitted  through 
an  opening  about  two  feet  square,  obstructed  by  six  bars  of  iron,  each 
an  inch  thick,  which  crossed  each  other.  Innumerable  swarms  of 
insects  caused  me  intolerable  pain,  and  I  dared  not  utter  a  word  of 
complaint,  lest  I  should  be  put  down  in  the  wells.' " 

XXXI.     (Page  73.) 

Pisa  is  sometimes  included  in  the  list  of  free  cities.  Its  origin  and 
development  are  thus  sketched  by  its  historian  : 

"  Of  the  origin  of  the  ancient  Pisae,  which  occupied  the  same  site 
as  the  modern  town,  several  traditions  are  given,  but  little  is  known 
with  certainty  :  whether  founded  by  Pelasgians,  or,  as  the  poets  would 
have  us  to  believe,  by  Greeks  from  the  Elean  Pisa;  or,  according  to  a 
third  account,  by  Etruscans.  It  was  at  one  time  Etruscan;  but  its 
early  fightings  with  the  Ligui-ians,  and  its  exploits  in  piracy  and  trade, 
are  buried  in  the  dim  obscurity  of  those  early  times.  We  do  not  even 
know  how,  nor  exactly  when,  Pisae  became  subject  to  the  growing 
power  of  Rome.  It  certainly  was  a  dependent  ally  of  the  republic 
before  the  second  Punic  war,  and  its  port  was  used  as  a  place  of 
'  departure  for  Spain  and  Gaul.    It  was  also  for  a  long  time  the  frontier 


NOTES.  269 

city  against  the  Ligurians,  and  suffei-ed  frequently  from  the  invasions 
of  these  people  in  their  protracted  wars  with  Rome.  In  180  B.  c,  a 
colony  was  established  here,  and  it  soon  became  one  of  the  most  flour- 
ishing places  in  Etruria ;  but  its  histoiy  again  became  obscure  in  the 
decline  of  the  Roman  empire.  It  passed  successively  under  the 
dominion  of  the  Goths,  Lombards,  and  Franks,  when  they  conquered 
Italy;  and  subsequently  became  virtually  an  independent  state,  owing 
allegiance  nominally  to  the  marquises  of  Tuscany,  who  were  vassals 
of  the  emperor.  In  this  condition  the  city  gradually  rose  to  much 
importance,  and  maintained  a  fleet  of  galleys,  which  was  employed 
with  much  success  against  the  Mohammedan  pirates  on  the  coasts  of 
the  Mediterranean.  They  even  went  so  far  as  to  conquer,  in  1022,  the 
island  of  Sardinia,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Genoese,  and  afterwards 
that  of  Corsica,  which  they  received  in  1091  as  a  fief  from  the  Papal 
See.  This  was  the  period  of  their  greatest  prosperity,  when  the  city 
was  decorated  by  its  magnificent  ecclesiastical  edifices.  For  about 
four  centuries  Pisa  was  one  of  the  most  powerful  maritime  powers  in 
the  Mediterranean ;  but  this  high  rank  was  lost  in  the  course  of  the 
long  wars  with  Genoa,  which  began  in  1070,  and  resulted  in  the 
destruction  of  the  harbor  of  Pisa  in  1290.  Meanwhile  the  city  was 
also  engaged  in  the  wars  between  the  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines  in  Italy. 
Pisa  supported  the  latter,  or  imperial  party,  and  was  attacked  by  Flor- 
ence, the  head  of  the  opposite  side.  It  was  in  these  contentions  that 
Ugolino,  Count  Gherardesca,  whose  stoiy  has  been  rendered  famous 
by  Dante,  after  being  for  ten  yeai's  captain-general  of  Pisa,  was  dis- 
placed by  the  Pisans  for  favoring  the  Guelph  part}',  and  died  by  star- 
vation, with  his  sons  and  grandsons,  in  the  Tower  of  Famine,  which 
is  still  pointed  out  in  the  city.  Peace  was  at  last  made  with  Florence 
in  1293,  and  with  Genoa  in  1299 ;  and  the  city,  now  shorn  of  its  naval 
power,  aftenvards  lost  by  the  same  unhappy  feuds  its  independence 
too.  War  soon  after  broke  out  anew,  and  Pisa  had  to  contend  single- 
banded  against  the  whole  power  of  Tuscany.  In  1326  they  lost  Sar- 
dinia, after  repeated  attempts  to  retain  it.  But  the  city  itself  long 
held  out  against  its  foes,  and  was  only  reduced  by  domestic  feuds  and 
treachery  under  the  power  of  Florence  in  1406,  the  chief  families 
proudly  withdrawing  to  Sardinia  and  Sicily.  On  the  French  invasion 
in  1494,  Pisa  made  a  last  effort  for  independence,  but  was  a  second 
time  conquered  by  Florence  in  1509.  Its  liberty  was  now  lost  forever, 
and  it  has  continued  since  that  time  subject  to  Florence,  whose  for- 
tunes it  has  shared." 

XXXII.     (Page  76.; 

See  M'Cxjlloch's  Treatises  on  Economical  Policy. 


270  NOTES. 


XXXIII.     (Page  78.) 

The  present  condition  of  the  free  cities  of  Germany,  as  presented  in 
"  The  Statesman's  Year  Book  for  1880,"  is,  in  the  main,  the  following : 

I.  Hamburg.  —  The  present  constitution  of  the  city  was  published 
September  28,  1860,  and  came  in  force  January  1,  1861.  According 
to  the  terms  of  this  constitution,  the  government  is  intrusted,  in  com- 
mon, to  two  chambers  of  representatives,  the  senate  and  the  house  of 
burgesses.  The  senate,  which  exercises  chiefly,  but  not  entirely,  the 
executive  power,  is  composed  of  eighteen  members,  one-half  of  whom 
must  have  studied  jui'isprudence,  while  seven  out  of  the  remaining 
nine  must  belong  to  the  class  of  merchants.  The  members  of  the 
senate  are  elected  for  life  by  the  house  of  burgesses ;  but  a  senator  is 
at  liberty  to  retire  at  the  end  of  six  years.  A  first  and  second  burgo- 
master, chosen  annually  by  secret  ballot,  preside  over  the  meetings  of 
the  senate.  No  burgomaster  can  be  in  office  longer  than  two  years ; 
and  no  member  of  the  senate  is  allowed  to  hold  any  other  public  office 
whatevei-.  The  house  of  burgesses  consists  of  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
two  members,  eighty-four  of  whom  are  elected  in  secret  ballot  by  the 
votes  of  all  tax-paying  citizens.  Of  the  remaining  one  hundred  and 
eight  members,  forty-eight  are  chosen,  also  by  ballot,  by  the  owners 
of  house  property  in  the  city  valued  at  three  thousand  marks  over  and 
above  the  amount  for  which  they  are  taxed;  while  the  other  sixty 
members  are  deputed  by  various  guilds,  corporations,  and  courts  of 
justice.  All  the  members  of  the  house  of  burgesses  are  chosen  for  six 
years,  in  such  a  manner  that  every  three  years  new  elections  take 
place  for  one-half  the  number.  The  house  of  burgesses  is  represented, 
in  permanence,  by  a  committee  of  the  house,  consisting  of  twenty 
deputies,  of  whom  no  more  than  five  are  allowed  to  be  members  of  the 
legal  profession.  It  is  the  special  dutj'  of  the  committee  to  watch  the 
proceedings  of  the  senate,  and  the  general  execution  of  the  articles 
of  the  constitution,  including  the  laws  voted  by  the  house  of  burgesses. 
In  all. matters  of  legislation,  except  taxation,  the  senate  has  a  veto; 
and  in  case  of  a  constitutional  conflict,  recourse  is  had  to  an  assembly 
of  arbitrators,  chosen  in  equal  parts  from  the  senate  and  the  house 
of  burgesses. 

The  revenue  of  the  state  is  mainly  derived  from  direct  taxes, 
chief  among  them  an  income-tax,  the  amount  of  which  upon  each 
contributor  is  left  to  self-assessment.  For  the  privilege  of  remaining 
a  *'  free  port "  and  exempt  from  the  customs  of  the  Zollverein,  Ham- 
burg has  to  pay  an  annual  sum,  assessed  for  the  year  1879  at  two 


NOTES.  271 

million  forty-six  thousand  mai-ks,  equal  to  a  charge  of  thirty-seven 
dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  head  of  population. 

The  state  embraces  a  territory  of  one  hundred  and  fort^'-eight  English 
square  miles,  with  a  population,  according  to  the  census  of  December 
1,  1876,  of  three  hundred  and  eighty-eight  thousand  six  hundred  and 
eighteen  ixdiabitants.  Included  in  the  census  returns  were  two  battal- 
ions of  Prussian  soldiers,  forming  the  garrison  of  Hamburg.  The 
state  consists  of  three  divisions,  viz.,  the  city  proper,  with  its  suburbs, 
the  district  of  Geest,  and  the  townships  of  Bergedorf  and  RitzebQttel. 

II.  LuBECK,  —  The  free  city  and  state  of  Liibeck  is  governed 
according  to  a  constitution  adopted  April  7,  1874.  The  main  features 
of  this  charter  are  two  representative  bodies,  —  the  senate,  exercising 
the  executive,  and  the  house  of  burgesses,  exercising  the  legislative 
authorit}'.  The  senate  is  composed  of  fourteen  members,  elected  for 
life,  and  presided  over  by  two  burgomasters,  who  hold  office  for  two 
years  each,  and  retire  in  rotation.  There  are  one  hundred  and  twenty 
members  in  the  house  of  burgesses,  chosen  by  all  citizens  who  are 
members  of  any  of  the  twelve  colleges,  or  guilds,  of  the  town.  A 
committee  of  thirty  burgesses,  presided  over  by  a  chairman  elected  for 
two  years,  has  the  duty  of  representing  the  legislative  assembly  in  the 
intervals  of  ordinary  sessions,  and  of  carrying  on  all  active  business. 
The  house  of  burgesses  has  the  initiative  in  all  measures  relative  to 
public  expenditures,  foreign  treaties,  and  general  legislation.  The 
senate,  intrusted  chiefly  with  the  executive  government,  also  gives  its 
sanction  to  the  enactment  of  every  new  law. 

The  high  court  of  appeal  for  the  three  free  cities  of  Germany  is 
established  at  Liibeck.  It  is  composed  of  a  pi'esident  nominated  by 
the  senates  of  the  three  free  cities,  and  six  councillors,  three  of  whom 
are  chosen  by  Hamburg,  two  by  Bremen,  and  one  by  Liibeck. 

Liibeck  has  an  area  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  square  miles, 
and  a  population  of  fifty-six  thousand  nine  hundred  and  twelve. 

III.  Bremen.  —  This  city,  embracing  an  area  of  a  hundred  and  six 
square  miles,  is  governed  under  a  constitution  proclaimed  March  o, 
1849,  and  revised  February  21,  1854.  A  senate  of  eighteen  members 
forms  the  executive,  and  the  convent  of  burgesses,  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  members,  the  legislative  branches  of  the  government.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  convent  are  elected  by  the  votes  of  all  the  citizens,  divided 
into  classes.  The  citizens  who  have  studied  at  a  university  return 
sixteen  members;  the  merchants  forty-eight  members;  the  common 
traders  and  shopkeepers  twenty-four  members;  and  the  other  tax- 
paying  inhabitants  of  the  free  city  the  rest.     The  convent  elects 


272  NOTES. 

the  eighteen  members  of  the  senate,  ten  of  whom  at  least  must  be 
lawyers.  Two  burgomasters,  the  first  elected  for  six  years  and  a  half, 
and  the  second  for  four  years,  direct  the  alfairs  of  tlie  senate,  through 
a  ministry  divided  into  eight  departments,  namely,  foreign  affairs, 
church  and  education,  justice,  finance,  police,  medical  and  sanitary 
administration,  military  atiairs,  and  commerce  and  shipping.  All  the 
ministers  are  senators. 

The  chief  branch  of  expenditure  of  Bremen  is  for  interest  and 
reduction  of  the  public  debt.  The  whole  of  the  debt,  which  beai's 
interest  at  three  and  a  half  and  four  and  a  half  per  cent.,  was  incurred 
for  constructing  railways,  harbors,  and  other  public  works. 

The  population  of  the  state  amounted,  December  1,  1875,  to  one 
hundred  and  forty-two  thousand  two  hundred,  inclusive  of  a  Prussian 
garrison.  The  increase  of  population  from  1871  to  1875  was  larger 
than  in  any  other  state  of  Germany,  amounting  to  the  high  rate  of 
3.82  per  cent,  per  annum. 

XXXIV.     (Page  85.) 

The  picture  of  those  disturbed  times,  and  the  faithfulness  and 
greatness  of  Orange,  as  represented  by  Macaulay,  are  interesting  and 
striking : 

"  While  Temple  was  engaged  in  these  pursuits,  the  great  storm 
which  had  long  been  brooding  over  Europe  burst  with  such  fuiy  as 
for  a  moment  seemed  to  threaten  ruin  to  all  free  governments  and  all 
Protestant  churches.  France  and  England,  without  seeking  for  any 
decent  pretext,  declared  war  against  Holland.  The  immense  armies 
of  Lewis  pourjd  across  the  Rhine,  and  invaded  the  territory  of  the 
United  Provinces.  The  Dutch  seemed  to  be  paralyzed  by  tei'i'or. 
Great  towns  opened  their  gates  to  straggling  parties.  .  Regiments 
flung  down  their  arms  without  seeing  an  enemy.  Guelderland, 
Overyssel,  Utrecht  were  overrun  by  the  conquerors.  The  fires  of  the 
French  camp  were  seen  from  the  walls  of  Amsterdam.  In  the  first 
madness  of  despair,  the  devoted  people  turned  their  rage  against  the 
most  illustrious  of  their  fellow-citizens.  De  Ruyter  was  saved  with 
difficulty  from  assassins.  De  Witt  was  torn  to  pieces  by  an  infuriated 
rabble.  No  hope  was  left  to  the  commonwealth  save  in  the  dauntless, 
the  ai'dent,  the  indefatigable,  the  unconquerable  spirit  which  glowed 
under  the  frigid  demeanor  of  the  young  prince  of  Orange. 

"  That  great  man  rose  at  once  to  the  full  dignity  of  his  part,  and 
approved  himself  a  worthy  descendant  of  the  line  of  heroes  who  had 
vindicated  the  liberties  of  Europe  against  the  house  of  Austria.  Noth- 
ing could  shake  his  fidelity  to  his  country ;  not  his  close  connection 


NOTES.  273 

with  the  royal  family  of  England,  not  the  most  earnest  solicitations, 
nor  the  most  tempting  oifers.  The  spiiit  of  the  nation  —  that  spirit 
which  had  maintained  the  great  conflict  against  the  gigantic  power  of 
Philip  —  revived  in  all  its  strength.  Counsels,  such  as  are  inspired  by 
a  generous  despair,  and  are  almost  always  followed  by  a  speedy  dawa 
of  hope,  were  gravely  concerted  by  the  statesmen  of  Holland.  To 
open  their  dikes,  to  man  their  ships,  to  leave  their  country,  with  all 
its  miracles  of  art  and  industry,  its  cities,  its  canals,  its  villas,  its 
pastures,  and  its  tulip  gardens  buried  under  the  waves  of  the  German 
ocean  ;  to  bear  to  a  distant  climate  their  Calvinistic  faith  and  their  old 
Batavian  liberties;  to  fix,  perhaps  with  happier  auspices,  the  new 
stadthouse  of  their  commonwealth,  under  other  stars,  and  amidst  a 
strange  vegetation,  iu  the  Spice  Islands  of  the  Eastern  seas,  —  such 
were  the  plans  which  they  had  the  spirit  to  form ;  and  it  is  seldom  that 
men  who  have  the  spirit  to  form  such  plans  are  reduced  to  the  neces- 
sity of  executing  them." 

XXXV.     (Page  91.) 

Camille  DesmouHns  thus  depicts  the  condition  of  France  at  this 
period : 

"  At  the  present  epoch,  words  became  state  crimes;  and  from  this 
the  transition  is  easy  to  simple  looks,  which,  with  sadness,  compas- 
sion, sighs,  nay,  even  absolute  silence  itself,  are  made  the  ground- 
work of  suspicion.  Is  a  citizen  popular  ?  He  is  a  rival  of  the  dictator, 
and  might  excite  commotions.  Does  he,  on  the  other  hand,  avoid 
society,  and  live  retired  in  the  bosom  of  his  family  ?  This  secluded 
life  makes  him  remarked,  and  excites  the  suspicion  that  he  is  meditat- 
ing sinister  designs.  Are  you  rich  ?  There  is  imminent  peril  that  the 
people  may  be  corrupted  by  your  largesses.  Are  you  poor  ?  You 
must  be  the  more  closely  watched,  because  there  is  none  so  enterpris- 
ing as  those  who  have  nothing  to  lose.  Are  you  of  a  thoughtful  and 
melancholy  chanicter,  with  a  neglected  exterior  ?  You  are  afflicted 
because  in  your  opinion  public  affairs  are  not  well  conducted.  Does  a 
citizen  indulge  in  dissipation  and  bring  on  indigestion  ?  He  is  con- 
cealing ambition  under  the  mask  of  pleasure.  Is  he  virtuous  and 
austere  in  his  morals  ?  He  has  constituted  himself  the  censor  of  the 
government.  Is  he  a  philosopher,  an  orator,  a  poet?  He  will  soon 
acquire  more  consideration  than  the  rulers  of  the  state.  Has  he 
acquired  reputation  in  war  ?  His  talents  only  make  him  the  more 
dangerous,  and  render  it  indispensable  to  remove  him  from  the  army, 
perhaps  to  send  him  to  the  scaffold.  The  natural  death  of  a  distin- 
guished person,  particularly  if  in  place,  has  become  so  rare  that  his- 
18 


\ 


274  NOTES. 

torians  transmit  it  as  an  event  worthy  of  record  to  future  ages.  Even 
the  death  of  so  many  innocent  and  estimable  citizens  seems  a  less 
calamity  than  the  insolence  and  scandalous  fortunes  of  those  who 
have  denounced  and  murdered  them.  Every  day  the  accuser  makes 
his  triumphal  entry  into  tlie  palace  of  death  to  reap  the  harvest  of 
some  rich  succession ;  and  the  tribunals,  which  were  once  the  protec- 
tors of  life  and  property,  have  become  mere  slaughter-houses,  where 
that  which  bears  the  name  of  punishment  and  confiscation  is  nothing 
but  robbery  and  murder." 

XXXVI.  (Page  93.) 

Carnot's  effort  in  the  following  quotation  was  to  show  that  the  gov- 
ernment of  a  single  person  was  anything  rather  than  a  guaranty  of 
stability  and  tranquillity : 

"  The  duration  of  the  Roman  empire  was  not  longer  than  that  of 
the  republic  would  have  bee^  ;  the  intestine  disorders  were  still  greater, 
and  crimes  more  multiplied ;  republican  highmindedness,  heroism, 
and  all  the  masculine  virtues  were  displaced  to  make  room  for  the 
most  ridiculous  pride,  the  vilest  adulation,  the  most  insatiable  cupidity, 
and  the  most  complete  disregard  of  national  prosperity.  What  evil, 
pray,  was  remedied  or  obviated  by  declaring  the  succession  to  the 
throne  hereditary  ?  Was  not  this  in  fact  regarded  as  the  legitimate 
inheritance  of  the  house  of  Augustus  ?  Was  not  Domitian  the  son 
of  Vespasian,  Caligula  the  son  of  Germanicus,  Commodus  the  son  of 
Marcus  Aurelius  ? " 

XXXVII.  (Page  94.) 

The  subsequent  history  of  France  down  to  the  present  republic  is, 
in  brief,  the  following  : 

The  imperial  government  of  Napoleon  lasted  exactly  one  hundred 
days.  During  that  period  the  emperor  expended  six  hundred  million 
francs,  and  sacrificed  sixty  thousand  lives,  Louis  XVIII.  was  called 
by  the  political  leaders  to  the  throne  after  the  fall  of  Napoleon.  The 
people  did  not  object,  for  they  were  tired  of  the  bloody  scenes  through 
which  they  had  passed. 

After  the  reigns  of  Louis  XVIII. ,  Charles  X.,  and  Louis-Philippe 
I.  (1848-1852),  a  provisional  government,  at  the  flight  of  this  last  king, 
assumed  control  of  state  affairs  until  the  appointment  of  the  constitu- 
tional assembly.  This  body  proclaimed  a  republic.  The  bloody  times 
of  1848  led  to  placing  General  Cavaignac  in  supreme  power.  In 
December  of  the  same  year,  Prince  Louis  Napoleon  Bonaparte  was 


NOTES.  275 

elected  president  of  the  republic,  and  in  December,  1852,  by  vote  of  a 
plebiscite,  the  empire  of  France  was  re-established,  and  Napoleon  III. 
became  emperor. 

XXXVIII.  (Page  94.) 

There  are  other  extinct  republics  of  such  brief  duration  as  hardly  to 
justify  extended  treatment.  Such,  for  instance,  was  the  republic  or 
"  commonwealth "  which  sprang  out  of  the  English  revolution.  It 
lasted  but  eleven  years,  and  was  followed  by  the  restoration  of  the 
Stuart  dynasty. 

To  this  class  likewise  belongs  the  democratic-republican  form  of 
government  in  Spain  in  1873,  which,  however,  was  merely  an  "  episode 
in  a  series  of  revolutions  and  reactions." 

XXXIX.  (Page  101.) 

Facts  involved  in  the  histoiy  of  Switzerland,  from  1300  to  1800,  may 
be  of  interest. 

The  Swiss  confederation  of  1308  was  founded  by  the  three  cantons 
of  Uri,  Schwyz,  and  Unterwald.  In  1353  it  numbered  eight  cantons, 
and  in  1513  it  was  composed  of  thirteen.  This  old  confederation  of 
thirteen  cantons  was  increased  by  the  adherence  of  several  subject 
territories,  and  existed  till  1798,  when  it  was  replaced  by  the  Helvetic 
republic,  which  lasted  four  years.  In  1803  Napoleon  I.,  by  the  addition 
of  St.  Gall,  Graubiinden,  Aargau,  Thurgau,  Tessin,  and  Vaud,  organ- 
ized a  new  confederation,  composed  of  nineteen  cantons.  This  con- 
federation was  modified  in  1815,  when  the  number  of  cantons  was 
increased  to  twenty-two  by  the  admission  of  Wallis,  Neuchatel,  and 
Geneve.  Three  of  the  cantons  are  politically  divided,  —  Basel  into 
Stadt  and  Land,  or  town  and  country ;  Appenzell  into  Ausser  Rhoden 
and  Inner  Rhoden,  or  exterior  and  interior;  and  Unterwald  into 
Obwald  and  Nidwald,  or  upper  and  lower.  Their  union  is  preserved 
by  each  of  the  moieties  sending  one  member  to  the  state  council,  so 
that  there  are  two  members  to  the  divided  as  well  as  the  undivided 
cantons. 

XL.     (Page  104.) 

In  addition  to  the  schools  already  mentioned,  there  are  normal 
schools  in  all  the  cantons  for  training  schoolmasters.  There  are  four 
universities  in  Switzerland.  Basel  has  a  university  founded  in  1460, 
and  since  1832  universities  have  been  established  in  Bern  and  ZUrich. 
In  the  summer  of  1879,  Basel  had  fifty-two  professors,  and  one  hundred 
and  ninety-four  students ;  Bern  eighty  professors,  and  four  hundred 


276  NOTES. 

and  five  students;  and  Zurich  seventy-seven  professors,  and  thi*ee 
hundi-ed  and  eight  students.  These  three  universities  are  organized 
on  the  model  of  the  high  schools  of  Germany,  governed  by  a  rector 
and  a  senate,  and  are  divided  into  four  departments  of  theology,  juris- 
prudence, philosophy,  and  medicine.  There  is  a  polytechnic  school  at 
Zurich,  founded  in  1855,  which  possesses  a  philosophic  faculty  and 
forty-six  teachers,  and  a  militaiy  academy  at  Thun,  both  maintained 
by  the  Federal  government. 

XLI.     (Page  108.) 
The  earlj'^  history  of  France  will  be  found  upon  page  89. 

XLII.     (Page  108.) 

We  are  indebted  to  the  "Statesman's  Year-Book,"  1880,  for  the 
following  list  of  the  sovereigns  and  governments  of  France  from  the 
accession  of  the  House  of  Bourbon : 

House  of  Boukbon.  —  Henry  IV.,  1589-1610;  Louis  XIII.  ("le 
Juste"),  1610-1643;  Louis  XIV.  ("  le  Grand"),  1643-1715;  Louis 
XV.,  1715-1774;  Louis  XVI.  (f  1793),  1774-1792. 

First  Republic.  —  Convention,  1792-1795 ;  Directoire,  1795-1799 ; 
Consulate,  1799-1804. 

Empire.  —  Napoleon  I.  (f  1821),  1804-1814. 

House  of  Bourbon  Restored.  —  Louis  XVIIL,  1814-1824; 
Charles  X.  (f  1836),  1824-1830. 

House  of  Bourbon  (Orleans).  — Louis  Philippe  (f  1850),  1830- 
1848. 

Second  Republic.  —Provisional  government,  February  to  Decem- 
ber, 1848;  I^ouis  Napoleon,  president,  1848-1852. 

Empire  Restored.  — Napoleon  III.  (f  1873),  1852-1870. 

Third  Republic  —  Government  of  National  Defence,  1870-1871 ; 
^Louis  A.  Thiers,  president,  1871-1873 ;  Marshal  MacMahon,  president, 
1873-1879 ;  F.  J.  P.  Jules  Grevy,  president,  1879. 

It  thus  appears  that  the  average  duration  of  the  eighteen  govern- 
ments of  France  since  the  accession  of  the  House  of  Bourbon  is  six- 
teen years. 

XLIII.     (Page  118.) 
Says  Charles  Maelaren,  F.R.S. : 

"  The  problem  as  to  the  source  whence  America  derived  its  popula- 
tion presents  no  difficiUty  now  when  the  contiguity  of  the  old  and  the 


NOTES.  277 

new  continent  at  Behring's  Straits  is  known.  The  breadth  of  the  sea 
here  (latitude  66°)  is  only  forty-five  English  miles;  the  transit  across 
is  facilitated  by  two  islands  placed  almost  exactly  midway  between 
Asia  and  America ;  and  in  severe  winters,  a  firm  body  of  ice  joins  the 
two  continents.  The  climate,  though  rigorous,  does  not  prevent  the 
country  on  each  side  from  being  inhabited.  The  Aleutian  Isles, 
besides,  at  the  latitude  of  53°,  which  run  in  a  line  like  the  piers  of  an 
immense  bridge,  from  one  continent  to  the  other,  present  such  easy 
means  of  communication,  that  few  savage  tribes  a  little  familiar  with 
sea-life  could  be  long  in  Kamtschatka  without  threading  their  Avay 
across  the  Pacific  to  the  peninsula  of  Alaska.  Indeed,  if  a  doubt  could 
exist,  we  have  positive  proof  that  America  received  part  of  its  popu- 
lation from  the  northeast  extremity  of  Asia ;  for  the  Esquimaux,  living 
on  the  east  side  of  Behring's  Straits,  speak  a  language  which  is  radi- 
cally the  same  with  that  of  the  Tschutskoi  on  the  opposite  shores." 


XLIV.     (Page  132.) 

Dr.  Robert  Brown,  in  his  "  Countries  of  the  World,"  says  : 

"  There  is  a  nobility  in  Brazil,  but  it  only  dates  from  1822,  the  year 
of  the  declaration  of  independence,  and  possesses  no  special  privileges, 
either  social  or  legislative.  Titles,  moreover,  can  only  be  held  for  one 
generation,  the  rank  dying  with  the  father,  unless  the  son  can  establish 
a  claim  to  the  distinction  on  the  same  ground  as  those  for  which  his 
father  obtained  it.  These  are  the  Brazilian  '  peers.'  But  in  reality 
there  are  a  great  many  others  who  enjoy  a  sort  of  brevet  rank.  These 
are  gentlemen  who  are  descended  from  noble  families  in  Portugal, 
who  are  veiy  wealthy.  Such  claims  to  be  admitted  into  the  aris- 
tocracy are  readily  acquiesced  in  by  *  society.'  There  are  three  degrees 
of  nobility  —  marquis,  count,  and  baron  —  in  addition  to  the  title  of 
knight  {mocos  Jidalgos)  obtained  by  admission  into  any  one  of  the 
six  orders  of  chivalry  founded  or  adopted  by  the  present  emperor  and 
his  father.  As  usual  with  such  *  distinctions,'  a  cross  is  very  easily 
obtained,  and  the  emperor's  numerous  visits  to  Europe  have  resulted 
in  that  of  the  'rose'  dangling  from  the  button-holes  of  some  very 
obscure  representatives  of  the  equestrian  rank,  even  of  Brazil.  The 
result  is  that  the  aristocracy,  being  continually  recruited  from  the 
democracy,  and  liable  at  any  time  to  return  to  the  rank  from  which 
they  sprang,  do  not  consider  themselves  a  superior  race  of  beings, 
except  in  so  far  that  they  are,  for  the  most  part,  the  pick  of  the  popula- 
tion of  the  country." 


278  NOTES. 


XLV.     (Page  149.) 


The  author  is  indebted  for  many  of  the  facts  concerning  existing 
I'epublics  to  "  The  Statesman's  Year-Book,"  1880,  which  is  surprisingly 
full  of  the  latest  and  most  reliable  information. 


XL  VI.     (Page  170.) 

If  the  reader  will  consult  the  records  of  crime  in  the  United  States, 
he  will  be  astonished  at  the  number  of  criminals  who  are  American- 
born,  and  who  have  been  more  or  less  under  the  training  of  our 
public  schools. 

XL  VII.     (Page  173.) 

It  would  well  repay  the  historical  student  to  read  the  history  of  our 
republic  with  the  thought  of  providential  interposition  constantly  in 
mind.  We  hope  that  some  one  wiU  write  a  book  bearing  the  title  — 
"  God  in  American  History." 

XLVIII.     (Page  184.) 

At  the  first  election  under  the  present  French  republic,  the  bishops, 
though  they  had  but  ten  days  to  prepare  for  elections,  were  ready. 
They  had  their  lists  made  out,  and  sent  them  to  the  parish  priests. 
The  peasants  did  not  know  the  men  they  were  ordered  to  vote  for,  but 
the  priest  said,  "  These  are  gentlemen  who  are  ready  for  peace ;  these 
are  the  men  for  whom  you  must  vote." 

XLIX.    (Page  191.) 

Late  private  despatches  from  Rome  complete  the  information 
regarding  the  secession  of  Rev.  Arthur  Wagner,  the  Ritualist  of 
Brighton.  There  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  Wagner,  by  advice  of 
Orby  Shipley,  has  been  secretly  received.  Wagner's  conversion  is 
supposed  to  mark  the  beginning  of  a  long-impending  and  carefully 
prepared  movement  which  may  ere  long  bring  many  of  the  ritualistic 
Anglican  clergy  over  to  Roman  Catholicism.  Meeting  ground  has 
been  found  that  may  unite  the  timid  High-Church  Anglicans  of  the 
Mackonochie,  Tooth,  and  Wagner  stamp  with  the  Vatican. 

Wagner's  church  and  several  others  were  never  consecrated ;  hence 
they  are  not  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  bishop  of  Chichester.  These 
churches  are  likely  to  be  gained  to  Rome,  but  the  conversion  of  Wag- 
ner and  his  imitators  is  conditional.    In  the  first  place,  those  converts 


NOTES.  279 

who  are  already  man-ied  are  to  be  reordained  {sub  tacita  conditione) ; 
second,  such  converts  will  be  allowed  to  assist  in  ministering  in  Catho- 
lic churches  in  mass,  benediction,  preaching,  and  catechism,  but  will 
not  be  admitted  for  the  present  to  parochial  functions,  especially  to 
confessions ;  third,  males  and  females  in  Anglican  religious  orders  are 
to  pass  through  novitiate  under  experienced  superiors  appointed  by 
Rome,  and  at  the  end  of  their  novitiate  are  to  be  professed  with  sim- 
ple vows,  and  will  continue  the  philanthropic  work  under  the  Vatican 
jurisdiction;  fourth,  special  metropolitan  —  perhaps  Cardinal  Manning 
' — is  to  be  consecrated  by  the  Pope  himself  for  the  government  of 
reconciled,  reordained  Anglican  clergy;  fifth,  for  the  present,  parts 
of  service  outside  the  canon  of  the  mass  are  to  be  allowed  in  the  ver- 
nacular, the  congregation  of  rites  deciding  which  portions  of  the  old 
Salisbury  rite  are  to  be  incorporated  with  the  liturgy;  sixth,  the 
younger  clergy  are  to  take  the  usual  vows  of  celibacy  when  ordained 
subdeacons;  the  converts  will  be  allowed  and  encouraged,  if  they 
prefer,  to  adopt  the  usual  mass  of  Latin. 

It  is  sometimes  asked,  Why  do  intelligent  people  turn  Romanists  ? 
Dr.  Storrs  answers  thus  : 

"Romanism  appeals  to  educated  Protestants:  1.  As  offering  an 
authoritative  teacher,  always  present,  in  which  the  mind  of  God  him- 
self resides  and  is  revealed.  2.  As  presenting  a  solid,  consistent, 
satisfying  theology.  3.  As  bringing  the  scriptural  world  more  closely 
to  their  minds,  and  making  their  relations  to  it  more  intimate.  4.  As 
giving  greater  security  of  salvation.  5.  As  offei-ing  a  higher  and  the 
only  true  sanctity  of  spirit  and  of  life.  6.  As  showing  a  long  and 
venerable  history.  7.  As  welcoming  and  cherishing  all  the  fine  arts, 
and  making  them  its  constant  helpers.  8.  As  promising  to  rebuild 
and  purify  society,  and  at  last  to  possess  and  regenerate  the  world." 

L.     (Page  191.) 

In  a  work  which  Rev.  Mgr.  de  Haerne,  of  the  English  College  of 
Bruges,  has  just  had  published,  showing  the  progress  of  Catholicism 
among  people  of  Anglo-Saxon  origin,  some  highly-interesting  sta- 
tistics are  given  of  the  extension  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in 
the  United  States.  According  to  this  authority,  when  the  first  Catho- 
lic bishopric  was  established  in  this  country  (1790),  there  were  only 
thirty  thousand  Catholics  in  a  total  population  of  more  than  three  mil- 
lions. The  ratio  of  Catholics  was  then  as  one  to  one  hundred.  During 
the  next  fifty  years  a  great  change  took  place,  and  the  Catholic  popu- 
lation, from  thirty  thousand,  advanced  to  about  one  million  five  hun- 
dred thousand,  who  represented  one-eleventh  of  all  the  inhabitants. 


280  NOTES. 

Within  the  period  endinj^  1876,  the  gain  was  also  very  great,  though, 
of  course,  not  so  rapid  proportionately  as  during  the  first  half-century 
of  our  national  life.  The  number  of  American  Roman  Catholics  in 
this  last  year  is  set  down  at  six  millions  five  hundred  thousand,  or 
little  less  than  one  sixth  of  the  entire  population  of  the  country. 

The  wealth,  influence,  and  dignity  of  the  church,  as  represented  by 
its  buildings  and  lands,  and  by  its  priests,  have  been  augmented  with 
even  gi'eater  rapidity  than  its  worshippers.  In  1790  there  were  but 
thirty-four  priests,  and  hardly  a  score  of  church-edifices,  while  in  1876 
there  were  five  thousand  three  hundred  and  eighty-eight  clei'gymen, 
who  ministered  in  eight  thousand  seven  hundrecV  and  fifty-seven 
churches  and  mission-stations.  It  is  very  easy  for  those  who  wish  to 
draw  the  conclusion  from  these  figures  that  the  time  is  approaching 
when  a  numerical  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  country  will  be 
Roman  Catholics,  and  when,  as  a  natural  result,  the  observance  of  that 
religion  will  be  enforced  by  the  state. 

Rev.  J.  Jj.  Spaulding,  bishop-elect  of  Peoria,  111.,  said  in  public,  not 
long  since,  that  no  country  in  the  world  was  of  such  present  interest  to 
Catholics  as  the  United  States.  The  Catholic  Church  to-day  held  the 
mass  of  the  people.  He  endeavored  to  trace  the  relation  of  present 
Protestants  and  Republicans  to  the  original  Puritan,  Dutch,  and 
Huguenot  settlers,  and  asserted  that  in  politics  the  Catholics  had  gen- 
erally associated  themselves  with  the  Democrats,  because,  when  Jeffer- 
son founded  the  Democratic  party,  he  declared  empliatically  against 
the  connection  of  Church  and  State.  Lapsing  into  statistics,  the  bishop 
stated  that  in  one  hundred  years  the  number  of  priests  in  the  United 
States  had  increased  from  twenty-five  to  five  thousand,  and  the  church 
was  now  the  wealthiest  in  the  country,  while  the  number  of  Catholics 
had  increased  in  the  centuiy  of  the  Republic  from  a  ratio  of  one  in  one 
hundred  to  one  in  every  six  of  the  people. 

Father  Ilecker,  in  his  very  ingenious  paper  entitled,  *'  The  Catholic 
Church  in  the  United  States:  its  Rise,  Relations  with  the  Republic, 
Growth,  and  Future  Prospects,"  after  presenting  the  astounding  false 
proposition  "  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  battled  her  whole 
lifetime  for  those  rights  of  man  and  for  that  liberty  which  confers  the 
greatest  glory  on  the  American  Republic,"  gives  a  table  of  statistics 
which  rest  probably  on  a  more  substantial  basis  of  historic  accuracy. 
This  table  shows  that  in  1776  the  Roman  Catholics  were  1-120  part 
of  the  whole  population,  and  in  1790  1-107  part;  and  these  figures 
remind  us  how  very  small  was  their  proportion  at  those  dates  to  the 
American  colonists,  who,  having  laid  the  foundations  of  civil  and 
religious  freedom  on  the  Christian  morality  of  the  Bible,  fought  the 
battles  of  the  Revolution  and  ordained  the  State  and  national  constitu- 


NOTES.  281 

tions.  The  tables  trace  the  comparative  growth  to  1878,  when  the 
Roman  Catholics  appear  as  seven  millions  to  forty,  or  one-sixth  of  the 
whole  population.  Father  Hecker  attributes  this  immense  growth,  not 
simply  to  immigration,  but  to  the  greater  number  of  births,  and  quotes 
the  fact,  which,  assuming  it  to  be  correct,  is  sufficiently  startling,  that 
in  Rhode  Island  the  census  of  1875  showed  that  its  native  American 
population  by  parentage  had  increased  only  12.89  per  cent,  in  ten 
years  past,  while  the  foreign  population  by  parentage  had  increased 
80.11  per  cent,  in  the  same  time.  Of  the  seven  millions  in  1878,  one 
million  two  hundred  and  thirty-seven  thousand  are  assumed  to  be  Ger- 
mans. Father  Hecker  further  shows  that  the  aggregate  vyealth  of  the 
Roman  Church  in  the  United  States  increased  from  nine  millions  in 
1850  to  twenty-six  millions  in  1860,  and  to  sixty  millions  in  1870 ;  and 
that,  while  in  the  first  of  these  decades  the  wealth  of  the  whole  country 
gained  125  per  cent.,  and  that  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  189  per 
cent.,  in  the  second  decade  the  wealth  of  the  country  gained  86 
per  cent.,  and  that  of  the  church  128  per  cent. 

It  may  also  be  noticed  that  the  Roman  Catholics,  who  had  scarcely 
a  parochial  school  in  this  country  twenty-five  j^eai-s  ago,  have  now, 
according  to  Sadlier's  directory,  about  seventeen  hundred,  with  two 
hundred  thousand  pupils. 

LI.     (Page  193.) 

The  views  of  James  Anthony  Froude  can  be  studied  with  profit. 
He  says : 

"  The  first  principle  of  the  Republic  is  that  the  majority  of  the  whole 
country  shall  rule.  If  the  Church  of  Rome  can  really  convert  a 
majority  of  the  American  people,  either  the  principle  will  have  to  be 
set  aside,  or  the  church  will  be  within  its  right  in  ordering  matters  as 
it  pleases.  "We  know  very  little  of  the  conditions  of  intellectual 
energy.  In  the  past  history  of  mankind,  it  has  been  intermittent. 
Periods  of  activity  and  progress  have  alternated  with  periods  of  rest, 
as  if  the  mind  was  like  the  soil,  which  requires  a  respite  of  stagnation 
to  recover  from  an  exhausting  crop.  It  is  possible,  it  is  even  likely, 
that  the  appetite  for  change  which  has  characterized  the  last  century 
may  be  followed  by  a  wave  of  spititual  and  political  conservatism,  that 
science  will  pause  for  a  while  in  its  discoveries,  and  that  our  new 
knowledge  may  be  allowed  time  to  shape  itself  into  a  form  with  some 

humanity  in  it But  that  the  alarm  should  have  risen  among  our 

cousins  in  the  United  States — that  among  them,  of  all  peoples,  who  are 

'  The  heirs  of  all  the  ages  in  the  foremost  flies  of  time,' 

* 


282  NOTES. 

intelligent  persons  can  be  found  who  are  reall}-  afraid  of  what  may  lie 
before  them  —  is  at  least  remarkable,  and  gives  us  a  kind  of  melan- 
choly satisfaction.  The  Americans,  too,  are  but  mortals  after  all, 
subject  to  the  same  diseases  which  afflict  the  worn-out  races  of  the 
Old  World,  and  they  may  draw  closer  to  us  in  the  common  trial." 

LII.     (Page  195.) 

In  a  pastoral  letter,  Archbishop  Purcell,  of  Cincinnati,  thus  calls 
attention  to  the  condition  of  the  freedmen  : 

'As  all  know,  the  colored  people  are  not  favorably  received  in  the 
midst  of  the  congregations  of  the  whites.  The  condition  of  their 
children  is  yet  worse.  Colored  children  are  nowhere  admitted  into 
the  schools  of  the  whites,  so  that  almost  necessarily  they  arc  sent  to 
some  sectarian  school  at  the  risk  of  losing  their  faith,  since  Protestants 
are  ever  on  the  watch  for  them.  Schools  should  be  provided  to  which 
the  children  of  Catholic  colored  parents  may  be  sent ;  but  from  which, 
at  the  same  time,  children  of  Protestants  should  not  be  excluded,  that 
thus  their  salvation  may  be  secured.  These  schools  should  also  serve 
as  churches  on  Sundays  for  the  adult  Catholics,  that  they,  too,  may 
comply  with  their  religious  duties  until  a  chapel  or  church  can  be 
erected  for  their  use." 

The  following  address  of  Archbishop  Manning,  at  the  consecration 
of  certam  missionaries  sent  to  the  Southern  field,  may  be  interesting : 

'*  These  priests  go  as  the  vanguard  of  others  who  will  soon  follow, 
inflamed  with  the  love  of  souls ;  souls  not  lovable  for  their  intelligence 
and  virtue,  but  souls  black  with  ignorance  and  vice;  lovable  only 
because  your  Master  died  for  them.  You  give  yourselves  forever  to  be 
the  fathers  and  servants  of  the  negroes,  and  to  labor  exclusively  for 
them  until  your  death,  in  the  sp.irit  of  Peter  Clavor,  who  announced 
himself  as  forever  the  slave  of  the  slave." 

Each  of  the  missionaries  kneeled  down,  and  holding  in  his  hand  an 
open  Bible,  took  this  vow  of  consecration  upon  himself.  The  venerable 
archbishop  then  arose,  prostrated  himself  before  each  missionary, 
embraced  his  feet,  and  then  arising,  kissed  each  upon  both  cheeks, 
receiving  a  similar  kiss  in  return. 

The  following  item  is  taken  from  an  issue  of  the  Montgomery 
(Ala.)  Advertiser: 

"  The  Catholic  Church  is  making  a  determined  effort  to  extend 
their  educational  work  in  the  South.  The  headquarters  of  this  effoi-t 
ai*e  in  Baltimore,  where  the  priests,  nuns,  and  sisters  from  abroad 
report,  and  are  detailed  to  various  parts  of  the  South." 


NOTES.  283 

A  Jesuit,  in  an  unguarded  moment,  recently  said :  *'  We  seek  the 
colored  man  for  his  vote." 

Archbishop  Spaulding,  in  his  introduction  to  the  "Life  of  Arch- 
bishop Hughes,"  lately  published,  says : 

**  He  who  will  do  most  to  form  the  character  of  the  Catholic  youth 
in  America  will  also  have  done  most  to  mould  the  future  of  the  Ameri- 
can people." 

LIII.     (Page  200.) 

The  claim  that  Popery  results  in  gi-eater  moral  correctness  and 
purity  seems  pi*eposterous  in  view  of  present  and  historic  facts. 

A  recent  number  of  El  Solfeo,  an  Italian  journal  of  prominence, 
furnishes  the  following  statistics :  In  1870  —  that  is,  before  Rome  was 
the  capital  of  the  kingdom  of  Italy  —  there  were  in  the  city  (for  a 
population  of  205,000  inhabitants)  2,469  secular  clergy,  among  cardi- 
nals, bishops,  prelates,  and  curas ;  2,766  monks,  and  2,117  nuns;  in  all, 
7,322  religious  of  both  sexes.  The  number  of  births  reached  in  the 
same  year  to  4,378,  of  which  1,215  were  legitimate,  and  3,163  illegiti- 
mate ;  the  illegitimates,  therefore,  being  in  the  proportion  of  75.25  per 
100  of  the  total  of  births.  Comparing  Rome  with  other  capitals  of 
Europe,  it  results  that,  for  every  100  legitimate  births,  there  are  ille- 
gitimate—  in  London,  4;  in  Paris,  48;  in  Brussels,  9;  in  Rome,  143. 

Nor  in  regard  to  capital  crime  did  the  Pontifical  States  occupy  a 
favorable  position  before  they  were  annexed  to  Italy  by  King  Victor 
Emanuel.  The  statistics  coi-responding  to  the  latest  years  of  the 
Pontifical  govei-nipent  show  that  there  was  committed  one  murder  in 
England  for  every  187,000  inhabitants;  in  Holland,  one  for  every 
168,000 ;  in  Russia,  one  for  every  100,000 ;  in  Austria,  one  for  every 
4,113;  in  Naples,  one  for  eveiy  2,750;  and  in  the  estates  of  the  Pope, 
one  for  every  750. 

A  recent  English  paper  says  that  the  Roman  Catholics  in  Scotland 
are  less  than  one-twelfth  of  the  population,  yet  this  one-twelfth  fur- 
nishes one  third  of  the  criminals.  In  England  and  Wales,  the  Roman 
Catholics  are  one-twentieth  of  the  population ;  but  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic prisoners  are  one-fourth  of  the  prisoners.  • 

LIV.     (Page  201.) 

A  distinguished  champion  of  Romanism,  Orestes  A.  Brownson, 
LL.D.,  thus  frankly  spoke  of  the  quality  of  Roman  Catholic  schools 
and  colleges : 

"  They  practically  fail  to  recognize  human  progress As  far 

as  we  have  been  able  to  trace  the  effect  of  the  most  approved  Catholic 


284  NOTES. 

education  of  our  day,  whether  at  home  or  abroad,  it  tends  to  repress 
rather  than  quicken  the  Hfe  of  the  pupil ;  to  unfit  rather  than  prepare 
for  the  active  and  zealous  discharge  either  of  his  religious  or  his  social 
duties.  They  who  are  educated  in  our  schools  seem  misplaced  and 
mistimed  in  the  world,  as  if  born  and  educated  for  a  world  that  has 
ceased  to  exist Comparatively  few  of  them  (Catholic  gradu- 
ates) take  their  stand  as  scholars,  or  as  men,  on  a  level  with  the 
Catholics  of  non-Catholic  colleges,  and  those  who  do  take  that  stand 
do  it  by  throwing  aside  nearly  all  they  learned  from  their  Alma  Mater, 
and  adopting  the  ideas  and  principles,  the  modes  of  thought  and  action, 
they  find  in  the  general  civilization  of  the  country  in  which  they  live. 
....  The  cause  of  the  failure  of  what  we  call  Catholic  education  is, 
in  our  judgment,  in  the  fact  that  we  educate,  not  for  the  present  or  the 
future,  but  for  the  past." 

The  following,  taken  from  Le  Pelerin,  a  French  Catholic  journal,  is 
a  sample  of  the  kind  of  instruction  given  by  Roman  Catholic  chiefs  to 
the  common  people : 

"Upon  entering  Paradise,  he  (Pius  IX.)  received  a  crown  from  the 
hands  of  the  Immaculate  Virgin  Mary  as  a  reward  for  the  crown  he 
had  conferred  on  her  while  on  earth.  St.  Joseph,  whom  he  had  made 
the  patron  and  protector  of  the  church,  did  not  fail  to  shake  him  coi-- 
dially  by  the  hand,  and  thank  him.  On  seeing  him  enter,  St.  Peter 
instantly  gave  the  pitch,  and  the  heavenly  choir  struck  up,  while 
Francis  de  Sales  and  Alphonso  de  Liguori,  whom  he  had  proclaimed 
doctors  of  the  church,  extolled,  each  in  turn,  the  exploits  and  achieve- 
ments of  his  pontificate ;  and  fifty-two  saints  and  twenty-six  blessed, 
who  owe  to  Pius  IX.  their  existing  position,  regaled  him  with  melo- 
dious concerts." 

LV.     (Page  204.) 

The  following  is  the  substance  of  the  latest  advices  from  Rome : 
Leo  XIII.  has  been  studying  the  state  papers  of  Pius  IX.  He  has 
decided  to  adopt  an  aggressive  policy  in  France,  and  to  take  sides  with 
the  Jesuits  and  other  unauthorized  associations  which  are  to  be  prose- 
cuted by  the  government.  He  discountenances  violence,  but  urges 
resistance  in  the  law  courts,  wherever  there  is  ground  for  contest- 
ing the  action  of  the  ministry.  Now  that  modei-ate  counsels  which 
came  so  unexpectedly  from  the  Vatican  in  the  Belgian  school  contro- 
versy have  been  withheld,  the  fight  between  the  republicans  and  cleri- 
calism must  go  on  to  the  end.  There  has  even  been  a  change  in  the 
Papal  policy  in  Belgium,  for  the  Liberals  are  greatly  exercised  over  a 
letter  which  Leo  XIII.  has  written  to  the  primate.     The  Echo  du 


NOTES.  285 

Parlement,  the  ory:an  of  the  government,  insists  on  the  necessity  of 
demanding  explanations  from  the  Pope  relative  to  his  recent  absolute 
approval  of  the  conduct  of  the  Belgian  bishops  in  the  education  ques- 
tion, and  his  not  less  absolute  condemnation  of  the  new  school  law. 
It  says  that  if  the  Pope  has  really  acted  us  it  seems  he  has  acted,  from 
the  declarations  of  the  prelates  and  the  clerical  journals,  no  honest 
government  can  maintain  relations  with  him  in  the  future.  It  appears 
now  that  all  the  reassuring  communications  made  from  the  Vatican  to 
the  Belgian  government  had  no  other  purpose  than  to  keep  the  Bel- 
gian envoy  at  Rome. 

That  the  principles  which  are  controlling  the  Papal  Church  in  its 
persistent  attacks  upon  civilization  may  be  clearly  seen,  we  present 
those  numbers  from  "The  Encyclical"  which  have  special  bearing 
upon  civil  government : 

XIX.  — The  Romish  Church  has  a  right  to  exercise  its  authority 
without  having  any  limits  set  to  it  by  the  civil  power. 

XXIV.  — The  Romish  Church  has  the  right  to  avail  itself  of  force, 
and  to  use  the  temporal  power  for  that  purpose. 

XXVI.  —  The  Romish  Church  has  an  innate  and  legitimate  right  to 
acquire,  hold,  and  use  property  without  limit. 

XXVII.  —  The  Pope  and  the  priests  ought  to  have  dominion  over 
the  temporal  affairs. 

XXX.  —  The  Romish  Church  and  her  ecclesiastics  have  a  right  to 
immunity  from  civil  law. 

XXXI.  —  The  Romish  clergy  should  be  tried  for  civil  and  criminal 
offences  only  in  ecclesiastical  courts. 

XXXIX.  —  The  people  are  not  the  source  of  all  civil  power. 

XLIl.  —  In  case  of  conflict  between  the  ecclesiastical  and  civil  pow- 
ers, the  ecclesiastical  powers  ought  to  prevail. 

XI^V.  —  The  Romish  Church  has  the  right  to  interfere  in  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  public  schools,  and  in  the  arrangement  of  the  studies  of 
the  public  schools,  and  in  the  choice  of  the  teachers  for  these  schools. 

XL VII.  —  Public  schools  open  to  all  children  for  the  education  of 
the  young  should  be  under  the  control  of  the  Romish  Church,  and 
should  not  be  subject  to  the  civil  power,  nor  made  to  conform  to  the 
opinions  of  the  age. 

XLVIII. — While  teaching  primarily  the  knowledge  of  natural 
things,  the  public  schools  must  not  be  separated  from  the  faith  and 
power  of  the  Romish  Church. 

LIII.  —  The  civil  power  has  no  right  to  assist  persons  to  regain 
their  freedom  who  have  once  adopted  a  religious  life ;  that  is,  become 
priests,  monks,  or  nuns. 


286  NOTES. 

LIV.  —  The  civil  power  is  inferioi-  and  subordinate  to  the  ecclesias- 
tical power,  and  in  litigated  questions  of  jurisdiction  should  yield  to  it. 

LV.  —  Church  and  State  should  be  united. 

LXXVIII.  —  The  Roman  Catholic  religion  should  be  the  only  re- 
ligion of  the  state,  and  all  other  modes  of  worship  should  be  excluded. 

LVI.     (Page  205.) 

These  cases  refeiTed  to  are  very  suggestive.  They  show  that 
Popery  is  the  same  the  world  over.  That  Massachusetts  is  so  much 
like  Belgium  ought,  however,  to  attract  the  attention  of  even  the  most 
careless  observer.  In  Belgium  it  will  be  remembered  that  a  law  was 
enacted  some  time  since  prohibiting  the  giving  of  religious  instruction 
in  the  schools  within  school  hours,  but  allowing  the  priests  to  leach 
such  children  as  might  be  sent  by  their  parents  for  that  purpose,  out 
of  school  hours.  The  Belgium  bishops  thereupon  forbade  the  priests 
to  give  instruction  in  them ;  and  refused  the  sacraments  to  teachers, 
scholars,  and  parents.  In  St.  Mary's  Parish,  Cambridgeport,  Mass., 
over  which  Father  Scully  presides,  is  the  same  intolci-ance.  For 
attending  a  public  school  after  the  priest  had  commanded  attendance 
at  a  parochial  school,  a  boy  was  stretched  upon  a  table,  and  his  back 
lashed  till  for  two  weeks  the  child  could  not  lie  down  on  account  of  his 
wounds.  "That,"  as  Joseph  Cook  says,  "  under  the  shadow  of  Bunker 
Hill;  that  within  sound  of  the  guns  where  our  Revolutionary  history 
began ;  that  under  the  very  towers  of  our  foremost  university ;  that 
within  sight  of  these  cultured  streets  of  Boston ;  that  above  the  veiy 
graves  of  Cotton  Mather  and  of  his  associates  who  planted  the  free- 
school  system  in  the  rocky  soil  of  New  England ! " 

The  other  case  is  that  of  Father  Dufresne,  a  pai'ish  priest  at 
Hol3'^oke,  Mass.,  who  attempted  to  ruin  the  business  of  a  former  par- 
ishioner, whom  he  had  excommunicated  because  of  some  slight  dis- 
obedience. 

LVII.     (Page  205.) 

Says  the  Catholic  World : 

"  We,  of  course,  deny  the  competency  of  the  State  to  educate,  to 
say  what  shall  or  shall  not  be  taught  in  the  public  schools,  as  we  deny 
its  competency  to  say  what  shall  or  shall  not  be  the  religious  belief 
and  discipline  of  its  citizens.  We,  of  coui-se,  utterly  repudiate  the 
popular  doctrine  that  so-called  secular  education  is  the  function  of  the 
State."  Again:  "Religious  liberty  consists  in  the  unrestrained  free- 
dom and  independence  of  the  church  to  teach  and  govern  all  men 


NOTES.  287 

and  nations,  princes  and  peoples,  rulers  and  ruled,  in  all  things  en- 
joined by  the  teleological  law  of  man's  existence."  Again  :  "  Before 
God,  no  man  has  a  right  to  be  of  any  religion  but  the  Catholic,  the 
only  true  religion,  the  only  religion  by  which  men  can  be  raised  to 
union  with  God  in  the  beatific  vision." 

In  a  paper  entitled,  "  The  Catholics  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,"  we 
read: 

"  The  supremacy  asserted  for  the  church  in  matters  of  education 
implies  the  additional  and  cognate  functions  of  the  censorship  of  ideas, 
and  the  right  to  examine  and  approve,  or  disapprove,  all  books,  pub- 
lications, writings,  and  utterances  intended  for  public  instruction, 
enlightenment,  or  entertainment,  and  the  supei-vision  of  places  of 
amusement." 

LVIII.     (Page  209.) 

The  same  spirit  is  manifested  in  other  countries  : 

"Had  we  still  a  king,"  says  M.  About,  "they  would  thrust  a  con- 
fessor and  ministers  upon  him.  The  sovereignty  of  the  people  having 
been  declared,  much  to  their  mortification,  they  will  not  acknowledge 
themselves  beaten,  and  they  are  marching  gayly  to  storm  universal 
suffrage.  As  the  leaders  of  the  democracy  are,  and  always  will  be, 
recruited  from  the  middle  classes,  among  self-made  men,  the  Jesuits 
have  resolved  to  gain  possession  of  the  middle  classes ;  what  little 
remains  of  the  nobility  being  already  on  their  side Nine  thou- 
sand youths  (in  French  Jesuit  schools)  are  being  prepared  by  them  as 
candidates  for  civil-service  appointments,  or  for  the  liberal  professions. 
They  imbue  their  minds  with  the  purest  monarchical  spirit ;  they  teach 
them  to  treat  with  contempt  the  fundamental  principles  on  which 
modern  society  has  been  built." 

The  French  government,  therefore,  defends  its  attack  upon  the 
Jesuits  on  this  impregnable  ground,  that  the  Republic  has  the  right  to  ^ 
protect  itself,  and  that  the  followers  of  Loyola  infect  the  people  Avith 
disloyalty. 

LIX.     (Page  212.) 

On  the  29th  of  September,  1876,  General  Grant,  at  the  reunion  of 
the  army  of  the  Tennessee,  employed  these  significant  words : 

"If  we  are  to  have  another  national  contest,  I  predict  that  the    X. 
dividing  line  will  not  be  Mason  and  Dixon's,  but  between  Protestan- 
tism and  intelligence  on  the  one  side,  and  superstition  and  ignorance 
on  the  other." 


288  NOTES. 


LX      (Page  220.) 

The  terms  Socialism  and  Communism  are  not  exactly  synonymous. 
President  Woolsey  has  correctly  represented  Proudhon  as  a  most  pro- 
nounced Socialist,  though  a  sharp  critic  of  communism.  Dr.  Hitch- 
cock agrees  with  President  Woolsey,  remarking  that  communism  is 
related  to  socialism  as  species  to  genus.  "All  Communists  are  So- 
cialists; but  not  all  Socialists  are  Communists."  Communism  main- 
tains the  theory  that  all  right  to  property  should  be  vested  in  the 
State.  Practically,  it  would  abolish  all  private  property.  Socialism,  in 
theory,  would  retain  the  right  to  private  property,  and  to  a  limited 
hicrease  according  to  the  capacity  and  industry  of  the  individual, 
along  with  large  common  possessions  on  the  part  of  the  State ;  but  it 
would  give  the  State  absolute  control  over  the  operations  of  industiy 
and  commerce,  revolutionizing  the  relations  of  capital  and  labor  so  as 
to  secure  a  larger  share  of  profit  to  the  latter  than  is  obtained  at 
present. 

Political  communism,  as  now  understood,  is  a  movement  directed 
by  political  agitators,  with  a  view  of  obtaining  the  power  of  the 
State,  and  of  putting  in  force,  on  a  national  scale,  the  radical  prin- 
ciples of  communism,  first  in  financial  and  industrial  matters,  and  next 
in  matters  of  social  ethics  and  religion.  Communistic  leaders  and  their 
followers,  however  sincere  in  their  views  and  aims,  are  usually  free- 
religionists,  or  no-religionists. 

The  late  Dr.  Thompson,  who  for  several  years  has  been  a  thought- 
ful and  calm  observer  of  the  political  and  social  movements  of  Europe, 
not  long  before  his  death,  published  a  paper  entitled,  "A  Moral  Quar- 
antine." In  view  of  the  immigration  into  our  communities  of  tens  of 
thousands  of  German  Socialists  whom  their  own  country  can  no  longer 
endure,  he  predicts  much  trouble.  He  represents  these  men  as 
inflamed  with  the  fever  of  license,  with  hatred  to  God  and  all 
established  authority;  as  the  open  enemies  of  the  Bible,  the  Sabbath, 
the  home,  of  marriage,  and  of  society  itself.  Dr.  Thompson  reasons 
that  the  law  which  enables  this  country  to  defend  itself  from  infected 
animals  and  rags  will  also,  upon  similar  grounds,  permit  a  moral 
quarantme. 

Communism  has  a  suggestive  history.  In  one  form  or  another  it 
dates  a  long  way  back.  It  has  been  found  among  the  Hindoos,  the 
Egyptians,  and  the  Jews.  Plato  advocated  the  theory  in  his  ideal 
republic.  Ht  desired  to  have  all  the  land  owned  by  the  State,  and 
common  use  and  common  privilege  enjoyed  in  education  and  in  the 
various  matters  of  social  life. 


NOTES.  289 

"  There  were  to  be  neither  rich  persons  nor  poor,  for  the  State  waa 
to  provide  equally  for  all ;  neither  was  the  exclusiveuess  of  birth  nor  of 
other  fortuitous  inequalities  to  be  allowed  to  break  the  easy  bonds  by 
which  all  citizens,  both  male  and  female,  could  be  bound  together  in 
one  harmonious  commonwealth." 

Sir  Thomas  More,  in  his  Utopia,  dreamed  of  a  state  communistic 
in  its  organization.  The  details  of  government  in  his  happy  island 
were  carried  out  by  a  body  of  magistrates  appointed  by  popular  elec- 
tion. To  this  governing  body  was  delegated  the  duty  of  distributing 
the  instruments  and  apportioning  the  tasks  of  productive  industry 
among  all  the  people,  while  the  wealth  resulting  from  their  united  and 
easy  labors  went  to  form  a  public  fund,  in  which  all  equally  partici- 
pated. Thei-e  was  no  want  nor  scarcity,  for  every  citizen  must  work ; 
and  yet  no  fatigue  nor  weariness,  for  the  daily  hours  of  labor  did  not 
exceed  six.  There  was  no  use  for  money,  as  food  and  all  necessaries 
were  supplied  from  the  common  stock.  Meals  were  laid  out  in  public, 
for  all  to  shai-e  alike,  and  they  were  rendered  more  enjoyable  by  the 
accompaniment  of  sweet  strains  of  music,  and  the  scent  of  delicate 
pei-fumes. 

The  first  perhaps  to  formulate  in  a  distinct  manner  the  modern 
doctrine  of  communism,  in  extreme  terms,  was  Babeuf,  in  his  jour- 
nal Le  Tribun  du  Peiiple,  1794-1796.  His  theory  was  the  follow- 
ing: "There  shall  be  no  differences  other  than  those  of  age  and 
sex.  All  men  have  nearly  the  same  faculties  and  the  same  needs ; 
they  ought,  consequently,  to  have  the  same  education  and  the  same 
food." 

Robert  Owen,  a  man  of  wealth,  spent  his  fortune  and  life  in  endeav- 
ors to  establish  schemes  of  industry  more  or  less  communistic.  His 
agricultural  community  at  New  Harmony,  Ind.,  though  continued  for 
a  time,  entirely  disappointed  his  expectations,  and  he  thus  described 
the  result:  "I  wanted,"  he  said,  "honesty  of  purpose,  and  I  got 
dishonesty.  I  wanted  temperance,  and  instead  I  was  continually  trou- 
bled with  the  intemperate.  I  wanted  industiy,  and  I  found  idleness. 
I  wanted  carefulness,  and  I  found  waste.  I  wanted  to  find  a  desii-e 
for  knowledge,  and  I  found  apathy.  I  wanted  the  principles  of 
the  formation  of  character  understood,  and  I  found  them  misunder- 
stood." 

Were  all  men  righteous  and  equal  in  ability,  then  communism,  as 
represented  in  the  ideal  republic  of  Plato  and  in  the  Utopia  of  More, 
and  as  worked  for  by  modern  theorists,  would  be  an  admirable  system. 
But  as  men  are  constituted,  communism  will  never  end  better  than 
Owen's  community  at  New  Harmony. 
19 


290  NOTES. 


LXI.     (Page  221.) 

A  table  of  wages  and  the  cost  of  living,  with  the  price  of  staple 
articles  of  commerce,  going  back  as  far  as  the  year  1200,  has  been 
lately  published.  It  shows  that  wages  during  the  thirteenth  century 
were  about  fifty  cents  a  week.  In  the  next  century  they  advanced 
some  fifteen  cents,  and  continued  to  advance  slowly  until  in  the  last 
century  they  reached  one  dollar  and  eighty-seven  cents  per  week. 
Wheat  in  the  thirteenth  century  averaged  seventy-one  cents,  or  eight 
and  a  half  days'  labor  a  bushel. 

In  the  United  States,  a  common  day-laborer  now  receives  moi'e 
than  a  bushel  of  wheat  for  a  single  day's  labor.  In  six  centuries,  meat 
has  not  quite  trebled  in  price,  while  wages  have  increased  more  than 
sevenfold. 

LXII.     (Page  222.) 

Some  of  the  representative  men  who  have  held  office  in  New  York 
within  a  few  yeai's  are  thus  described  by  the  New  York  World : 

"Thomas  Dunlap,  a  commissioner  of  jurors,  with  a  salaiy  of  fifteen 
thousand  dollars  a  year,  began  life  as  a  dog-catcher,  gained  influence 
as  a  rumseller,  and  passed  from  a  gin-mill  to  a  position  where  he  prac- 
tically has  charge  of  the  jury-system  of  the  city.  Four  aldermen  keep 
one  or  two  saloons  each,  and  two  of  them  keep  '  bucket-shops '  and 
*  all-night '  dens.  Richard  Crocker,  coroner,  with  twelve  thousand 
dollars  a  year,  has  been  a  prize-fighter,  and  only  escaped  conviction 
for  the  crime  of  murder  through  his  influence  in  Tammany  counsels. 
Richard  Flanigan,  another  coroner  at  twelve  thousand  dollars  a  year, 
has  been  a  prize-fighter,  and  is  a  gambler.  Jerry  Ilartigan,  another 
member  of  the  committee,  has  been  tried  for  murder.  The  list  might 
be  extended,  but  a  few  shining  examples  suffice  to  show  what  a  city 
may  expect  which  allows  itself  to  be  governed  by  the  Democratic 
party." 

LXIII.    (Page  223.) 

A  striking  parallel  could  be  drawn  between  the  fashionable  women 
of  the  United  States  and  those  of  the  Roman  republic.  (See  page 
42.)  Most  cases  of  fraud  during  late  years  have  sprung,  it  must  be 
admitted,  from  "  a  hunger  for  home  magnificence  or  display." 

The  Roman  republic  was  compelled  once  to  pass  a  law  forbidding 
the  consuls  from  going  in  processions  with  white  horses.  The  empire 
had  done  enough  of  that.  The  people  had  seen  the  tax -lists  and  the 
wars  and  the  bribes  that  came  from  splendor,  and  they  ordained  by 


NOTES.  291 

law  that  their  republic  should  make  an  experiment  in  simplicity.  But 
the  law  was  vain.  The  barbarian  love  of  display  was  all  through  and 
through  the  people.  To  gi'atify  their  taste  they  would  sack  any  city, 
and  strip  the  rings  from  the  dying  women,  or  gold  from  the  altars  of 
the  gods.  When  Rome  died  it  was  full  of  furniture  and  tapestry  and 
marbles,  but  empty  of  soul.  No  men  or  women  of  mind  and  of  virtue 
had  trodden  its  elegant  parlors  for  a  hundred  years.  When  high  style 
comes  in  at  the  door,  reason  flies  out  at  the  window. 

Confucius,  speaking  of  the  ancients,  says  : 

"  Their  families  being  regulated,  their  states  were  rightly  governed. 
Their  states  being  rightly  governed,  the  whole  empire  was  made  tran- 
quil and  happy." 

LXIV.    (Page  228.) 

The  more  history  is  studied  the  more  will  it  appear  that  some  men 
cannot  be  kept  safe  except  by  rigor.  There  are  those  who  do  not 
seem  to  know  when  they  are  well  used.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the 
czars  whose  lives  have  been  oftenest  in  danger  are  those  who  have 
appeared  most  deserving.  Ivan  the  Terrible  and  Nicholas  I.,  un- 
questionably the  two  greatest  tyrants  in  Russian  history,  were  never 
assailed,  while  the  present  czar  has  been  aimed  at  five  times,  and  his 
liberal  and  popular  uncle,  Alexander  I.,  is  still  believed  to  have  died 
by  poison.  Even  Peter  the  Great,  "  the  Father  of  Russia,"  had  no 
fewer  than  three  escapes  from  assassination. 

Mr.  Froude,  in  his  last  article  in  the  "  North  American  Review," 
says : 

"The  line  of  human  progress  is  the  equation  of  the  compound 
forces  of  freedom  and  authority.  Freedom  runs  into  anarchy;  au- 
thority runs  into  tyranny.  By  the  endless  jar  of  these  two  tendencies 
the  course  of  advance  is  traced  out.  It  pleases  us  to  say  that  all  men 
have  a  natural  right  to  liberty.  But  perhaps  those  only  have  a  right 
to  liberty  who  deserve  it,  and  can  use  it  well.  We  say  that  all  men 
are  equal.  We  say  it  to  no  purpose  if  nature  has  made  us  unequal. 
We  say  that  all  men  have  an  equal  right  to  a  voice  in  the  state.  It 
may  be  that  only  the  wise  and  competent  have  a  right  to  have  a  voice 
in  it  at  all ;  that  the  majority  are  as  little  able  to  choose  their  ablest 
statesmen  as  to  choose  their  ablest  artist,  philosopher,  poet,  religious 
teacher.  .  .  .  The  rights  of  man  are,  we  know  not  what.  The  respon- 
sibilities of  men  are  practical  realities,  which  find  us  out  at  every  false 
step  which  we  take.  ...  It  is  the  fashion  to  say  that  the  modern  man 
is  free ;  that  submission  to  authority  is  mean  and  servile.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  is  precisely  as  men  understand  what  real  freedom  means  that 


292  NOTES. 

they  submit  to  what  is  better  than  themselves ;  and  those  who  clamor 
loudest  for  their  rights  are  those  who  have  fewest  rights  which  deserve 
to  be  respected." 

LXV.     (Page  229.) 

Some  of  the  quotations  of  letters  from  Macaulay  to  H.  S.  Randall, 
author  of  the  "Life  of  Jefferson,"  are  of  great  weight  coming  from  so 
learned  an  observer.     In  a  letter  dated  May  23,  1857,  we  read : 

"  You  are  surprised  to  learn  that  I  have  not  a  high  opinion  of  Mr. 
Jefferson,  and  I  am  surprised  at  your  surprise.  I  am  certain  that  I 
never  wrote  a  line,  and  I  never,  in  Parliament,  in  conversation,  or 
even  on  the  hustings  —  a  place  where  it  is  the  fashion  to  court  the 
populace  —  uttered  a  word  indicating  an  opinion  that  the  supreme 
authority  in  a  State  ought  to  be  intrusted  to  the  majority  of  citizens; 
in  other  woi'ds,  to  the  poorest  and  most  ignorant  part  of  society.  I 
have  long  been  convinced  that  institutions  purely  democratic  must  \ 
sooner  or  later  destroy  liberty  or  civilization,  or  both.  In  Europe, 
where  the  population  is  dense,  the  effect  of  such  institutions  would  be 

almost  instantaneous You  may  think  that  your  country  enjoys 

an  exemption  from  these  evils.  I  will  frankly  own  to  you  that  I  am 
of  a  very  different  opinion.  Your  fate  I  believe  to  be  certain,  though 
it  is  deferred  by  a  physical  cause.  As  long  as  you  have  a  boundless 
extent  of  fertile  and  unoccupied  land,  your  laboring  population  will  be 
far. more  at  ease  than  the  laboring  population  of  the  Old  World,  and 
while  that  is  the  case,  the  Jefferson  politics  may  continue  to  exist 
without  causing  any  fatal  calamity.  But  the  time  will  come  when 
New  England  will  be  as  thickly  peopled  as  old  England.  Wages  will 
be  as  low,  and  will  fluctuate  as  much  with  you  as  with  us.  You  will 
have  your  Manchesters  and  Birminghams,  and  in  those  Manchestei-s 
and  Birminghams  hundreds  of  thousands  of  artisans  will  assuredly  be 
sometimes  out  of  work.    Then  your  institutions  will  be  fairly  brought 

to  the  test It  is  quite  plain  that  your  Government  will  never 

be  able  to  restrain  a  distressed  and  discontented  majority.  For  with 
you  the  majority  is  the  Government,  and  has  the  rich,  who  ai'e  always 
a  minority,  absolutely  at  its  mercy.  The  day  will  come  when  in  the 
State  of  New  York  a  multitude  of  people,  none  of  whom  has  had  more 
than  half  a  breakfast,  or  expects  to  have  more  than  half  a  dinner,  will 
choose  a  legislature.  Is  it  possible  to  doubt  what  sort  of  a  legislature 
will  be  chosen  ?  On  one  side  is  a  statesman  preaching  patience, 
respect  for  vested  rights,  strict  observance  of  public  faith.  On  the 
other  is  a  demagogue  ranting  about  the  tyranny  of  capitalists  and 
usurers,  and  asking  why  anybody  should  be  permitted  to  drink  cham- 


NOTES.  293 

pagne  and  ride  in  a  carriage  while  thousands  of  honest  folks  are  in 
want  of  necessaries.  Which  of  the  two  candidates  is  likely  to  be  pre- 
ferred by  a  workingman  who  hears  his  children  cry  for  more  bread  ? 
I  seriously  ai)prehend  that  you  will,  in  some  such  season  of  adversity 
as  I  have  described,  do  things  which  will  prevent  prosperity  from 
returning;  that  you  will  act  like  people  who  should  in  a  year  of 
scarcity  devour  all  the  seed-corn,  and  thus  make  the  next  a  year,  not 
of  scarcity,  but  of  absolute  famine.  There  will  be,  I  fear,  spoliation. 
The  spoliation  will  increase  the  distress.  The  distress  will  produce 
fresh  spoliation.  There  is  nothing  to  stop  you.  Your  Constitution  is 
all  sail  and  no  anchor.  As  I  said  before,  when  a  society  has  entered 
on  this  downward  progress,  either  civilization  or  liberty  must  perish. 
Either  some  Caesar  or  Napoleon  will  seize  the  reins  of  government 
with  a  strong  hand,  or  your  republic  will  be  as  fearfully  plundered  and 
laid  waste  by  barbarians  in  the  twentieth  centuiy  as  the  Roman  empire 
was  in  the  fifth,  with  this  difference,  that  the  Huns  and  Vandals  who 
ravaged  the  Roman  empire  came  from  without,  and  that  your  Huns 
and  Vandals  will  have  been  engendered  within  your  own  country  by 
your  own  institutions." 

LXVI.     (Page  231.) 

The  acknowledgment  must  be  made  that  the  first  threat  of  secession 
came  from  New  England  during  the  first  term  of  Washington's  admin- 
isti'ation.  The  facts  were  these :  The  New  England  members  in  Con- 
gress had  brought  forward  a  proposition  for  the  assumption  by  the 
General  government  of  certain  war  debts  of  the  States.  The  Southern 
States  had  largely  paid  their  debts,  while  the  debts  of  the  New  England 
States  had  mostly  been  bought  up  at  a  large  discount  by  speculators, 
some  of  whom,  a  Northern  historian  tells  us,  were  then  in  Congress. 
The  proposition  was  rejected  by  Southern  votes.  Great  excitement 
followed.  New  England  threatened  to  secede,  and  Congress  could  do 
no  business  but  adjourn  from  day  to  day,  and  its  dissolution  was  immi- 
nent. Through  the  management  of  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Mr.  Hamilton, 
a  compromise  was  brought  about,  and  "  the  Union  was  saved ;  "  the 
war  debts  of  New  England  were  paid,  and  the  national  capital  was 
located  on  the  Potomac  instead  of  farther  north. 

The  threat  of  secession  now  comes  from  California.  Says  a  leading 
San  Francisco  paper  : 

"Already  such  a  dread  possibility  as  secession  from  the  Union,  in 
the  event  of  our  failure  to  obtain  the  relief  we  demand  from  the 
Chinese  evil,  is  broadly  talked  of  in  high  circles.  Leading  men  say 
that  we  have  pleaded,  have  exhausted  argumeivts,  h»sre  cried  aloud  for 


■^.^■•^^^ 


294  NOTES. 

relief,  but  our  most  earnest  appeals  have  been  treated  with  indignity, 
and  our  sufferings  been  made  a  mockery.  As  a  last  resort,  we  will 
take  advantage  of  the  geographical  lines  that  surround  us,  the  vast 
extent  of  soil  within  our  boundaries,  the  exhaustless  resources  of 
wealth  that  are  ours,  and  will  set  up  an  Occidental  republic,  which, 
if  it  cannot  rival  the  old  republic  in  its  glory  of  the  past,  will  at  least 
be  a  magnificent  empire  of  white  freemen,  whose  heritage  shall  be 
preserved  to  their  childx-en  and  their  children's  children  forever." 

Once  admit  the  doctrine  of  State  rights,  and  the  sovereign  right  of 
New  England  or  of  the  Pacific  States  to  withdraw  from  the  Federal 
compact  would  be  established.  Soon  there  would  not  be  two  govern- 
ments merely,  but  many.  Any  group  of  states,  or  any  great  city,  on 
the  ground  of  some  real  or  imaginaiy  injustice,  or  from  pui-ely  selfish 
interests,  under  the  leadership  of  ambitious  demagogues,  would  break 
the  Federal  compact. 

LXVII.     (Page  237.) 

This  to  many  persons  may  seem  strong  language.  But  volunteer 
soldiers  often  wonder  what  really  was  gained  by  all  their  sacrifices. 
The  coloi-ed  people  have  received  very  little  benefit.  They  flee  from 
the  South  overground  rather  than  underground :  this  appears  to  be 
the  chief  difference.  Surprisingly  few  of  tlie  "  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic,"  on  account  of  their  military  services,  are  admitted  to  man- 
agement or  emoluments  of  our  civil  offices.  The  honor  of  having 
been  a  soldier  is  recognized  in  the  South,  but  in  the  North  thei-e  is  not 
much  account  taken  of  it.  Facts  like  these  lead  many  of  the  men  who 
fought  most  faithfully  to  say^  "  Were  there  another  war,  we  would 
remain  at  home,  run  no  risks,  and  make  money." 

LXVIII.     (Page  240.) 

In  answer  to  the  statement  that  Washington's  and  Jefferson's  rule, 
to  appoint  the  able,  promote  the  worthy,  and  never  remove  the  worthy 
for  merely  partisan  reasons,  will  result  in  an  aristocracy  of  office- 
holders,- it  has  been  well  said  "  that  such  an  aristocracy  as  would  not 
be  turned  out  or  put  in  by  party  patronage,  and  not  be  changed  with 
the  administrations,  would  serve  both  political  parties,  and  so  be  no 
aristocracy  at  all." 

LXIX.     (Page  241.) 

It  is  interesting  to  note  how  much  alike  ai'e  demagogues  in  all  ages, 
whether  royal  sons  or  brutes.  Absalom,  as  described  in  the  Book  of 
Samuel,  is  a  type   of  what  is   found   in   every  commonwealth  of 


NOTES. 


the  United  States.  He  is  represented  as  addi'essing  those  who  are 
in  trouble,  telling  them  it  is  the  fault  of  the  existing  government. 
"  See,"  he  says,  "thy  matters  are  good  and  right,  but  there  is  no  man 
deputed  of  the  king  to  hear  them."  He  ascribes  the  sufferings  of  the 
people,  their  losses,  the  hard  times,  to  existing  rulers,  and  persuades 
the  people  that  a  change  of  government  will  remove  every  evil.  "  Oh, 
that  I  were  made  judge  in  the  land !  that  every  man  which  hath  any 
suit  or  cause  might  come  unto  me,  and  I  would  do  him  justice."  He 
persuaded  the  Israelites  that  all  they  needed  was  a  change ;  that  David 
had  been  in  power  too  long;  and  that  a  new  administration  would 
make  things  right.  Absalom  is  also  represented  as  seeking  popu- 
larity by  making  himself  familiar  with  every  one,  shaking  hands  with 
everybody,  so  that,  "  when  any  man  came  nigh  to  him  to  do  him 
obeisance,  he  put  forth  his  hand,  and  took  him  and  kissed  him."  So 
Absalom  stole  the  hearts  of  the  men  of  Israel.  These  are  the  common 
arts  of  the  selfish  demagogue  in  all  times.  They  flatter  the  people, 
pander  to  their  prejudices,  encourage  their  hostility  to  other  classes  of 
society,  and  kiss  the  hands  and  feet  of  the  foulest  men. 

Another  typical  demagogue  has  already  been  referred  to  —  Cleon 
of  Athens.  He  was  fierce  in  invective,  a  ready  and  able  speaker,  and 
was  thoroughly  acquainted  with  all  the  tricks  of  the  forum.  Cleon 
was  able  to  find  fault  with  all  in  power.  He  threatened  them  with 
criminal  accusations,  and  took  bribes  to  let  them  off.  He  obtained 
power  by  inspiring  terror,  by  promising  rewards  to  his  friends,  and 
threats  of  punishment  to  his  enemies. 

Shakspeare's  Jack  Cade  is  a  third  remarkable  tj'pe  of  a  demagogue. 
He  is  represented  as  promising  that  every  man  in  England  shall  have 
all  he  wants;  that  all  the  lands*^f  England  shall  be  held  in  common; 
that  all  shall  have  the  best  to  eat  and  drink  and  wear.  He  has  the 
usual  hatred  which  demagogues  have  for  knowledge.  He  decrees 
that  all  lawyers  shall  be  killed ;  that  all  who  can  read  and  write  shall 
be  hanged ;  and  that  he  will  spare  only  those  who  wear  cowhide  boots 
and  have  hard  hands.  The  reader  will  find  no  difficulty  in  meeting 
with  the  descendants  of  these  three  types  of  demagogism. 

LXX.     (Page  245.) 

It  is  a  question  whether  the  modern  club  and  caucus  are  not  doing 
far  more  mischief  than  good. 

It  was  during  the  later  times  of  the  Roman  republic  that  "the 
majoi-ity  of  the  people  went  to  the  public  shops  of  barbers,  and  to  the 
shops  of  physicians,  which  were  great  places  of  resort  in  the  morning, 


296  NOTES. 

when  numbers  of  idle  loungers  assembled  there,  and  talked  over  the 
news  of  the  day." 

When  Cyrus  was  at  Saidis,  he  was  warned  not  to  injure  any  city  of 
Hellas  lest  the  Lacedaemonians  should  interfere. 

"  I  was  never  yet  afraid  of  men,"  said  Cyrus, "  who  have  a  place  set 
apart  in  the  middle  of  this  city,  where  they  meet  to  cheat  one  anothei", 
and  to  forswear  themselves." 

LXXI.     (Page  246.) 

Carl  Schurz,  speaking  of  the  condition  of  our  politics,  says  : 
"  Men  of  the  highest  character  and  ability'  are  not  unfrequently  dis- 
carded as  '  too  good '  to  be  candidates  for  public  employment,  because 
jthey  could  not  obtain  the  support  of  the  lower  class  of  politicians :  the 
ihoral  tone  of  politics  is  becoming  so  low  as  to  repel  many  of  the  best 
citizens  from  active  participation  in  public  life ;  and  political  parries, 
especially  when  they  grow  old,  show  a  tendency  to  resolve  themselves 
into  class  corpoi-ations,  to  whom  the  possession  of  power  and  '  public 
plunder '  is  the  first,  and  the  promotion  of  the  public  interest  only  a 
secondary  object." 

LXXII.     (Page  246.) 

Resolutions  just  adopted  by  the  Democratic  party  of  New  York  are 
representative : 

"The  Democratic  party  of  New  York  renew  their  fidelity  to  the 
principles  set  forth  by  the  National  Democratic  Convention  at  St. 
Louis,  and  appi-oved  by  decisive  popular  majorities  in  the  presidential 
election  in  1876.  The  victory  then  won  was  in  the  name  and  for  the 
sake  of  reform.  The  people  were  defrauded  of  the  fruits  of  that  vic- 
tory by  a  false  count  of  the  electoral  votes The  Democratic 

party  of  New  York  also  declare  their  settled  conviction  that  the  suc- 
cess of  that  conspiracy  against  the  people's  constitutional  sovereignty, 
which,  by  perjuries,  forgeries,  bribes,  and  violence,  in  eifect  disfran- 
chised 4,300,416  voting  citizens,  and  which,  by  a  false  count  of  the 
electoral  votes,  revex'sed  the  result  of  the  last  presitlential  election, 
compels  the  next  to  turn  upon  a  single  commanding  issue.     That  issue 

precedes  and  dwarfs  every  other A  government  of  the  people, 

for  the  people,  must  be  a  government  by  the  people.  The  lawful  exer- 
cise and  orderly  transfer  of  the  people's  power  through  the  successive 
administrations  of  the  Government  prescribed  by  the  people's  choice, 
is  the  fundamental  condition  of  a  representative  Democratic  republic. 
It  is  the  political  object  for  which  constitutions  and  laws  are  framed ; 


NOTES.  297 

it  is  that  for  which  a  republic  is  anywhere  preferreil  above  a  mon- 
archy, where  the  transfer  is  by  hereditary  succession  as  an  escape 
from  usurped  magistracies  and  civil  wars ;  it  is  the  substance  of  civil 
liberty;  as  for  democracy  (the  people's  rule),  the  people's  right  to 
rule,  it  is  the  very  breath  of  its  life.  This,  then,  is  the  momentous 
issue,  the  right  of  the  people  to  exercise  and  enjoy  an  elective  self- 
government  without  impediment  by  force  or  fraud  from  any  quarter, 
least  of  all  by  fraud  and  force  from  their  temporary  but  discarded 
servants." 


This  sounds  very  much  like  injured  innocence 


LXXIII.     (Page  247.) 

"Washington,  in  his  memorable  "  Farewell,"  employs  this  language : 
"  The  alternate  domination  of  one  faction  over  another,  sharpened 
by  the  spirit  of  revenge  natural  to  party  dissension,  which  in  diffei'ent 
ages  and  countries  has  perpetrated  the  most  horrid  enoi-mities,  is  itself 
a  frightful  despotism.  But  this  leads  at  length  to  a  more  formal  and 
permanent  despotism.  The  disorders  and  miseries  which  result  gradu- 
ally incline  tlie  minds  of  men  to  seek  security  and  repose  in  the  abso- 
lute power  of  an  individual,  and  sooner  or  later  the  chief  of  some 
prevailing  faction,  more  able  or  more  fortunate  than  his  compititors, 
turns  this  disposition  to  the  purposes  of  his  own  elevation  on  the  ruins 
of  public  liberty." 


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